


Redefining History

by TheAlgea



Series: Redefining Trilogy [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, BAMF Loki, Blood, Captain America Feels, Cliffhangers, Clint barton's past, Coma, Death, Don't Like Don't Read, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gore, Hallucinations, Infinity Gems, Light Elves, Loki Feels, Magic, Memory Loss, Mind Control, No Romance, Psychological Torture, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Feels, Torture, Violence, You Have Been Warned, captain america is amazing, loki whump in later chapters, lots of battles, mentions of alfheim, mentions of sif and the warrior three, mentions of the winter soldier, mentions of vanaheim, some S.H.I.E.L.D. bashing, this might take a while
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-01-21 19:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 70,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1560731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAlgea/pseuds/TheAlgea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After "the Avengers", life's moved on and everything is normal (as normal as it can be for the Avengers) but then there's an explosion at Central Park and everything goes down again. Loki's back but not in the way you'd expect. </p><p>Thanos wants the Tesseract but above all he wants the Liesmith who has failed him on Midgard and shall pay for his failure. He wants to wreck havoc on the world and take over the Nine Realms or destroy them in an endless war.</p><p>Also posted on Fanfiction.net</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**My first Avengers story and also made on my phone (this part anyways) I've been wanting to make a story like this and the characters are probably gonna be ooc since I'm not used to writing many fanfiction stories. English isn't my native language so I apologize for any grammar mistakes, if you see some you can really help me by telling me. I don't own anything it's all Marvel's. Please review/comment, I'll probably be not motivated enough to continue if you don't**

Tony Stark is having a fantastic day because let's be honest, if you're Tony Stark every day is a great big party. While sipping from some really good scotch he goes over the things that make this day so good in his head and smiles. Pepper has promised him they're gonna do quite some... interesting things once she gets back from her meeting in Paris and on top of that Bruce has finally relented and is on his way right now, to Stark Tower to work with Tony on some really epic projects where an expert on gamma radiation is more than welcome. Of course a bunch of other minor stuff has made Iron Man's day but they're not that relevant nor are they worth actually mentioning here. Short version: Tony Stark otherwise known as Iron Man was absolutely, 100 percent sure nothing could ruin his day, absolutely nothing.

* * *

Natasha is trying to be patient, honestly she is, but seriously Clint's been in that coffee shop for a very long time. She knows the Starbucks is always really crowded but going from the amount of time Clint's been away you'd think half of New York had suddenly decided to go get coffee at the exact same time as Barton. It's not like she wants to go to Stark Tower that badly but she knows they have to be there before Bruce. The excuse is that they want to check on Stark because his recent project almost destroyed a whole street. This is partly true, Fury really isn't happy about that incident but he's not angry enough to send two of his best agent, just because Stark has decided he wants to try and make ice cream machines fly around freely for anyone who wants some, it's a nice gesture but still, not appreciated. The real reason is rather obvious for everyone: they want to keep a close eye on the Hulk. Although the green monster has saved earth from being defeated and ruled by a Norse god and his disgusting alien minions, the Chitauri, it's still a big risk to every single civilian in New York when he's in Stark Tower playing with radioactive material and gigantic arc reactors. They really don't want the 'Other Guy' to wreck New York only a few months after he's just saved it. When Clint finally gets back he's not even holding two cups of coffee in his hands. No, he's running towards the car and although he's trying to hide it, he's furious and really nervous. Natasha knows a lot of things and one of those things is very simple: if you're the cause of the way Hawkeye's face is right now, you better pray to every god in existence ( but not the Norse ones because she thinks those are arrogant and real assholes, with the exception of Thor of course) and hope you get to die quickly. When he reaches the car and gets in she immediately starts the car. He starts explaining while they're driving. And the more he talks, the faster a very luxurious car, driven by a red-haired woman goes, not even bothering to look back when said car almost bumps into every car that doesn't get away fast enough.

* * *

Bruce is nervous. And angry, but then again isn't he always? He's really not that angry but still, maybe irritated is a better word. He knows Fury has send the Black Widow and Hawkeye to make sure he doesn't destroy anything. That's of course not the reason he's irritated, no he's irritated because his plane  has just landed and right now he's trying to find his luggage with almost all of his scientific research and material and he can't find it. His suitcase isn't extraordinary big nor does it have a special color or something like that. It's very plain and brown, it's even worn out and damaged so nothing anyone should be interested in enough to try and steal it. Now, the reason he's nervous is much easier to guess. He doesn’t trust the 'other guy'. Simple, he's still doubting his decision to go to New York again, even now, standing in its airport. He's trying to blend in, he really doesn't want some guy recognizing him and making a fuss because he really doesn't know whether he'll be able to control himself then. He's just spotted his luggage, but before he's able to even take one step his cellphone is buzzing. He considers just letting it buzz and getting his suitcase first but then he remembers no one has his number except like two people, Tony ( who he has blocked for the moment because he wants to keep his temper in check when he's in public areas in New York ) and director Nick Fury. Conclusion: Nick Fury was calling, deduction: earth was in danger, so Bruce did the logical thing: he practically ran to his suitcase to make sure he had it and then answered the phone. The voice on the other side wasn't even done talking when Bruce had already dropped the phone and ran out of the airport, both luggage and phone forgotten. 

* * *

Steve Rogers is jogging when and where it happens. He’s run over 35 miles already and hasn’t broken a sweat, naturally. He’s running in Central Park like he does every day and is quite enjoying himself when suddenly clouds begin to gather. It’s been a sunny, nice day and Steve doesn’t even have the time to frown at the sudden change of weather because then the ground starts to shake and suddenly a bright gigantic flash blinds him. He’s in the middle of trying to cover his eyes to protect them from that horrible light and then it feels like the world has exploded. And this is Captain America the super soldier we’re talking about. Steve feels his body being lifted off the ground and thrown away with so much power that he’s sure that he would’ve broken all his ribs from the impact on the tree he slams into if he wasn’t Captain America. The light has blinded him so much that he thought he’d never see again, but he’s proven wrong when everything  turns black. It only lasts for a few seconds, after the darkness he starts to see little dots but he can feel his body already recuperating, he knows it will be a matter of seconds before he can move again, minutes before he can move without pain of course.

The first thing that he thinks about is the civilians, like a good soldier. The moment he can, he looks around. He hadn’t really paid much attention before whether there were a lot of people in the park with him. Of course there had been, it was a beautiful day, you had to be out of your mind not go outside. He scans through the park rather quickly. No one is really badly hurt. One other jogger had been a lot further away and had been blown away as well but less far and was obviously just really dazed. An old woman who had been sitting on a bench feeding the ducks  had somehow managed to keep a hold to the bench and was now lying behind it, screaming. Steve could see she was only screaming because she was afraid. Some kids who had been playing not far away had been blown away as well but had miraculously managed to fall in the water and were only really spooked and wet. Their parents were already diving in the water to save them even though the kids were obviously not in need of saving seeing as they could swim.  Some other people who had been standing on a safe distance were screaming, others were yelling and pointing and some even took out their phones like it was some kind of flash mob and they expected Steve to suddenly start dancing or something like that. When he was certain no one was really hurt or you know, dead he jumped up. Grabbing his cellphone and for once, happy he has SHIELD on speed dial he starts speaking really fast to the man on the other side of the line

“Explosion in Central Park, no injured or dead, it looks like a beam from the Bifrost but there’s like a huge crater. I’m going to check up on it, maybe it’s Thor but I doub-“ he hasn’t even finished saying what he was going to say when Fury interrupts him.

“I’m sending the rest of the Avengers, they’re all in New York it’ll take five minutes.” He says, and that’s it. Director Fury has already hung up and Steve is standing there, with the phone in his hands, staring at the huge crater. He’s only a few feet away when he hears a voice. He can see someone, obviously blown away as well, getting up and rubbing his eyes, by the way his elbows stick out and are moving up and down.

“..told you that you cannot just mix Mothers potions and not cause an explosion, if you’re purple again, Thor I swear I will…” The voice suddenly stops talking. And Steve finally realizes who it is he’s looking at. Loki is standing in the middle of the crater, face pale and eyes wide open like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. And that’s the last thing Steve can see before someone decides it’s a good idea to start shooting in his and Loki’s general direction. Both are obviously surprised, neither of them had seen this coming at all and while Steve jumps away and he sees Loki look up and do the same the only thing he can think is _Damn it Stark, what the hell are you doing?_

* * *

  
The blasters on his hands are still shooting when a British voice suddenly interrupts “Sir, Mr. Rogers is asking you to stop shooting him.”

“To hell with that!” Tony Stark grumbles. He knows what he’s seen. Loki, the mass murderer and the cause of all his nightmares. And the only thing Tony Stark wants to do is destroy him.

“He’s insisting, sir.” JARVIS, says. “He says there are civilians in the area and that you-“ the AI pauses as if not sure what to say, “should stop being an egoistic little prick and stop firing before he will skewer you with his shield.” Tony has never been the one to respond well to threats but only this one time he realizes that Steve is right and that he’s endangering everyone in Central park by blasting through everything and everyone. He stops shooting and flies down as fast as he can. JARVIS had already informed him that all the Avengers with the exception of Thor have arrived and are now gathering. He lands swiftly, glaring even though he knows he’s still wearing his mask so no one can see him glare.

“What’s going on?” Clint asks, arrow already on his bow but lowered to the ground.

“Loki,” Steve says and then, glaring at Tony “And Stark is trying to murder everyone in Central Park.”

“I object to that, I haven’t hit anyone!” Nobody really listens and they’re all looking at Steve.

“Loki is here? He’s supposed to be at Asgard, you know, rotting in jail.” Natasha says with venom in her voice. Barton has narrowed his eyes and is looking around for any sign of the man who had controlled his mind a few months ago. The man who has been haunting him ever since, the man he so desperately wants to put an arrow in, or preferably multiple ones.

“Where is he, I want to kill him.” He says through gritted teeth.

“You don’t understand,” Steve quickly says, “There was something off, he looked younger, and he really didn’t know who I was, you know when he saw me before Stark decided to try and kill me together with him.”

“I already objected to that, it’s not like I hit you anyway!” Tone exclaims throwing his metal arms in the air.

“What do you mean he looked younger?” Bruce asks, wringing his hands together and looking around nervously.

“I mean he was smaller and looked confused.” Steve says

“It’s a trick!” Barton says looking around angrily, daring anyone to say differently.

“Obviously,” Natasha agrees. “He’s trying to throw us off balance, he’s a shape shifter isn’t he?”  _She’s obviously read some Norse mythology_ Tony notes before clearing his throat.

“Trick or not, we gotta stop him from whatever he’s gonna do now.”

“Agreed,” Steve nods. But before they can anything else, something silver flashes past Tony. Bruce who’s standing just in front of him jumps out of the way and manages to dodge the object but only _just_. All of the Avengers turn around immediately, weapons at the ready. What Tony didn’t expect was Loki, standing there with two daggers in his hand, possibly _radiating_ with energy.

“Who are you? Where is my brother? What have you done to him? I swear to the All-Fathers grave you will regret you have ever been born if you’ve done something to him!” His pose suggest he’s going to throw more knives but that’s not what catches everyone’s attention. Loki’s appearance is, he’s much younger, not just a few years but much more. He looks about twelve, he’s not small for his age but he isn’t big either. He’s tall though and slim. He’s wearing green armor but it looks light and casual, like he always walks around with armor on, which is probably the case. His eyes looks like they’re on fire and his face is twisted into rage but when he looks in his eyes Tony can see the fear. He’s obviously afraid but is trying to mask it. And he fails because his legs are trembling and his knuckles are white from gripping his knives too tightly.

“I’m on Midgard am I not? I demand you tell me where my brother is immediately or I will make you tell me!” He is glaring at them and one glance sideways, Tony can see all of the Avengers are standing dumbfounded, except for Clint who’s already pointed his drawn arrow, aiming at Loki but not firing yet. Tony knows he’s struggling, Loki does look and act like a kid right now, who can shoot a twelve-year-old coldblooded?

“Your tricks won’t work on us Loki!” Natasha yells at him. “Stop this charade and we can this over with!” At her words Loki looks possibly even more confused. He' staring at her like she’s suddenly grown a second head, his hands even lower a bit like he’s not sure how to react to this.

“What are you-“ and for the second time that day he stops midsentence. This time not because he’s perplexed but because another bright beam suddenly appears and also for the second time that day, the ground shakes and a blast throws everyone off their feet, except for Captain America who’s already seen the scenario and has stuck his shield in the ground and manages to hold on while all the others are being blasted away.

* * *

 

Loki really thinks he’s losing his mind. Not only because he’s being blasted away for the second time that day but also because he’s suddenly appeared on Midgard when only seconds ago he’s been talking to Thor, telling him that no he can’t mix Mother’s potions and then drink them all. Last time he did, it turned him purple. Thor had just managed to convince him to cloak him from everyone except Heimdall and Heimdall had other things to do then keep an eye on the princes when they were safe in the palace. They had snuck up on the guards standing before their Mother’s door and Loki had just created some illusion of him and Thor breaking things in another hallway not far from the guards. They had immediately reacted and had run over to the noise. Thor had managed to slip inside and not five minutes later a huge blast had thrown Loki off his feet. Loki had been quite angry and had started to yell at his older brother

“ I’ve told you that you cannot mix Mothers potions and not cause an explosion, if you’re purple again, Thor I swear I will…” But then he had seen is some stranger looking at him while speaking in some gray box. After that everything had happened really fast. Before he could even apprehend what he was seeing someone started to shoot at him, creating huge holes in the ground where Loki had stood only a few seconds prior. One blast came way to close and again Loki had been thrown against something hard, this time a tree and he had blacked out for a few seconds.  
However he still _was_ an Asgardian, (or so he thought) so he hadn’t been unconscious for a very long time.  
  
All his muscles had ached and when he had tried to stand he felt a jabbing pain in his ribs but it hadn’t been very serious and he hadn’t broken anything so he stood up anyway. His vision had been a little blurry but he had been able to see some people standing only a few feet away from him. He hadn’t managed to make out what they were saying but they were obviously talking about him and once of them had been looking around obsessively, like finding Loki was his life goal. They all had looked agitated and nervous.

 _Where am I? Wait, where is Thor? They must have done something to him!_ It had been the only thing on Loki’s mind and it was also the thing that had driven him to conjure up throwing knives.

 _I’ll make them tell me_ he remembered thinking and then he had thrown the dagger. Once they had all turned around to look at him he hissed

“I’m on Midgard aren’t I? Tell me where my brother is immediately or I will make you tell me!” He had seen they were all very surprised. The only one that had done the logical thing was the guy with the bow and arrow. The arrow had been pointing his way and Loki knew he could easily evade it because the man had hesitated too long. But he hadn’t fired it.

“Your tricks won’t work on us Loki!” The woman with the red hair had  yelled. “Stop this charade and we can this over with!” _What? What are they talking about? They’re trying to confuse me!_ The boy had thought before trying to slip his mask on again, not really succeeding but not failing either.

He had been in midsentence (again) when something blew him away (again).

Loki recovered quickly, well his body did, his mind was still spinning, what was happening? Surely mixing up some potions could never have such an affect. That wasn’t possible, potions were strong but certainly not strong enough to send Loki to Midgard. And where the hell was Thor? He really wanted to know where his brother was. What if he was somewhere else entirely? What if he was in Vanaheim or worse, Svartalfheim? The home of the Dark Elves was not somewhere the crown prince of Asgard should be, period. Actually it was not a place where _anyone_ should be, prince, or no prince. He tried not to think about that, focusing instead of  what the hell it was that had thrown him away. When he saw the pattern on the ground he recognizes it immediately, the Bifrost! Maybe the All-Father had come to help him! He ran towards the figure shrouded by dust.

“Father?” He tried. The figure turned towards his voice but when the smoke finally cleared it was not the All-father Loki saw standing there. To be honest, he didn’t really know who was standing there. He was wearing a red cape and he looked familiar but Loki couldn't quite put his finger on it. But then he overlooked the stranger again, properly this time and  thee only thing he could see was Mjolnir, clasped in some strangers hand.

* * *

Steve Rogers is the only guy standing, well next to Thor of course and Loki now apparently but then again Loki looked like a kid at the moment so he didn't count as a man, more as a boy. However this isn't very important right now. Steve looks behind him, his team was still dazed but awake and were staring at the scene before them. Steve looked back to the two former brothers.

"Who are you? And how dare you steal Mjolnir from the vault? That is supposed to be for my brother, Thor!"

Steve can hear Loki screaming from where he stands

"Loki?" Thor says looking really confused and surprised, so was Loki for that matter.

"Yes, of course! I am Loki Odinson and brother to Thor, the crown prince, I demand you tell me where you got that weapon from!" Loki is trying to sound brave but his voice is wavering and betrays his true feelings: he is scared to death. He doesn't know what do and he certainly doesn't know what to think about all of this. No amount of training could have ever prepared him for a situation as absurd, yet terrifying like the one he was in now.

"Loki, it is me! I am Thor!" Thor says quietly because he still doesn' t believe what has happened, he had expected to find his brother rampaging on earth, not looking like a kid and demanding to know where he got Mjolnir from.

"Are you mocking me? My brother hasn't reached van  manhood yet, you can't possibly think that you can trick me into believing that you are Thor!" But then his eyes wander to Mjolnir and his eyes widen again when realization draws on his face.

"Brother? Is this what the potions did to you?" And after the awe and confusion, anger followed, Loki was obviously thinking of the consequences of all of this and he looked really furious.

"I am SO telling father it is all your fault! Because it is, I cannot believe you managed to convince me to help you with this! I am not taking the blame on myself like I did last time! I told you before that you can't just randomly mix Mothers potions! How are you going to explain this to her because I sure as Helheim aren't!" He took another deep breath but before he could continue rambling, the shield of captain America suddenly appeared out of nowhere and hit him on the head, really hard. The Trickster God fell to the ground, face first from the direction the shield came from, not very graciously. Thor immediately whirled around to see who DARE strike his brother down when he saw Barton, standing next to captain America looking possibly content. Before Thor could start a rampage, a voice coming from his left was heard, Tony Stark, rubbing his head and looking rather groggy, even with the suit. He stood and waved at Thor like they weren't standing in the half destroyed Central Park in New York.

"Rapunzel! Nice to see you and all but WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?”

**So, what do you think? Believe me there's more coming, the next chapter will already be typed by the time I publish this, I think but ideas are always welcome! Please review/comment it would mean a lot to me! Also I can't promise the next chapter will be as long as this one because I'm not used to writing this much for just one chapter but I'm just really psyched for this fic!**

**Xx TheAlgea**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 is here! I hope you’ll like it!  I don’t own anything, and also please, review/comment, it would really motivate me!**

“You don’t honestly believe this do you?” Tony is gaping at Thor, mouth open like a fish.

“You look like a fish, Stark.” Captain America says. Natasha rolls her eyes and Clint just stares, a look full of hatred and contempt but also doubt. He is looking at Loki, who's lying on the bed in one of the many guest rooms of Stark tower (something nobody but Thor is happy with) and all of the Avengers are sitting or standing around him. Tony closes his mouth but keeps staring at Thor, then back at Loki and Thor, repeating the process every few seconds.

“I understand that you have doubts but I assure you, I can explain!” Thor says looking all of them in the eyes. Then casting his eyes to the ground for a second, he finishes: “Well most of it anyway.”

Ignoring the rather obvious eye-roll coming from Tony and the exasperated sigh of the Black Widow, he continues

“Look, when we brought the tesseract with us, the All-father realized that it could do great harm, but recognized that it still was a great power. Legend says it could grant immortal life, among other things-“

“Immortality? I could be mistaking, but aren’t you like, a Norse god?” Tony interrupts, looking up from where Loki lay. It was just so confusing, there he laid, his enemy, looking like a twelve-year-old (Tony doesn't know how old that makes him exactly, Asgardians obviously age a little different from humans). Tony doesn't know how to feel, he feels hatred, because that “kid” on the couch was the cause of all his nightmares, he was the one that killed all those people, and had planned to take over earth and rule it as a god. But on the other hand, he still looked like a kid, acted like a kid and well, Tony Stark was many things but he was not a man who would murder a child… or a god in the form of a child. Let’s just say he had conflicted feelings about all of this.

“We are born, we live and then we die,” Thor says.

“Give or take a few thousand years, yes?” Tony interrupts again.  Thor doesn't react, he seemed sad.

“We weren’t looking for immortality,” Thor says, after a long pause. “But we needed someone with experience with the Tesseract, it had been lost for so many years, we barely remembered what to do with it. And well the only one we knew did know what to do with it was-“

“-Loki” Natasha finishes the sentence before Thor can.

“You thought you could trust _Loki_? You didn’t expect him to you know, play a trick like he’s known to do?” Clint looks possibly furious, his gaze murderous and now directed at Thor instead of Loki. Thor doesn't seem to know what to say to that so he continues like he hasn’t been interrupted at all.

“We took precautions, but the Tesseract is still unpredictable. While experimenting on it,” before anyone could interrupt he quickly adds, “with supervision of the All-father, Loki didn’t play any tricks, the All-Father would have noticed it,” He looks around, daring anyone to disagree with him.

“The Tesseract sent out a magic blast, like I’ve never felt before. I was blast against a wall and when I opened my eyes, Loki was gone.”

It is silent for a while before one of them opens his mouth.

“This immortality how does that work?” Bruce is wringing his hands together again but this time he looks more determined.

“It is said, that the Tesseract can take any amount of years from your body, your mind, however stays intact.”

“Of course,” Tony says, “If you wanna be immortal you don’t want to lose the memories of your immortal life, now do you?” he chuckles like he's just said something funny but then realizes he's the only one laughing and quickly stops.

“But if that’s the case, shouldn’t Loki be able to remember everything? The only thing the tesseract would’ve taken would be years, not memories, right?” Bruce asks, glancing at Loki before looking at Thor again.

“Yes, normally but apparently something went wrong.”

“Something went wrong? Nothing went wrong Thor! Isn’t it obvious? Loki’s just playing us!” Natasha says.

“You don’t understand, Loki is a trickster but he would never sink this low. His pride would never allow it. And…” Thor hesitates “he called me brother. He hasn’t done that since…” This time he did fall silent. Before anyone can protest or say something else they heard another voice, coming from the bed.

“Brother?”  Loki sits up swinging his legs off the couch and putting his hand on his head, grimacing. The moment the Avengers realize he is awake they all stare at him. No one reacts as Clint stands up abruptly and stalks out of the room, followed by Natasha and Bruce, who obviously doesn’t trust himself (or the ‘other Guy’) enough to stay in the same room with a conscious Loki. Loki seems surprised and curiosity fills his eyes but then he looks at Thor again.

“What has happened? Why are we on Midgard?"

"You can stop pretending!" Tony exclaims in an impatient voice, "No one's gonna believe this act anyway so you better drop the de it already!"

Loki looks genuinely confused but doesn't say anything, looking at Thor as if looking for guidance on how to react to this.

"Friend Stark and Captain America, maybe you should leave us, we have much to discuss." Tony feels the urge to tell Thor that this is his tower so that he can leave whenever he wants to but a very angry look coming from Thor stops him before he can open his mouth.

"Thor, maybe it's not such a good idea to leave you alone with him yet, we don't know whether this is a trick or not." surprisingly it's not Tony but Steve who utters the words. Thor just nods.

"Mind if I ask Jarvis to monitor his breathing and heartbeat? It's not a hundred percent trustworthy but that way we can see if he's lying or not." Tony asks, trying to sound reasonable.

"Lie?" Loki snorts, "Why would I lie to Thor? Unless it's about who turned his clothes pink?" Thors eyes light up for a second as if remembering that day fondly before sadness takes over again, those days are long behind them and he wishes they weren't but they are.

"Do whatever you think necessary." he says. Tony nods and looks up

"Jarvis?"

"Already on it sir," a British disembodied voice answers. Loki looks possibly spooked and is glancing around the room, trying to find the man behind the voice. Tony doesn't feel like explaining anything to the trickster and shrugs when he gets a questioning gaze directed to him from Loki.

"If his heart rate or breathing changes, I want to know it." he adds. Then silence falls once more and Steve seems to get the hint even though it was his idea, it's obvious everyone is waiting until he leaves so he does.

Once Captain Rogers is gone Thor starts to speak.

"What's the last thing you remember brother?"

Loki stops trying to find Jarvis.

"You somehow convinced me to help you sneak into mother's chambers, I am telling father you forced me by the way," he snaps quickly before continuing "and then you somehow managed to create an explosion, next thing I know I'm standing on Midgard and you look centuries older than you looked only a few seconds after I've just seen you. When did you get this old?" Not even a beep from Jarvis, so either Loki is a really really good liar and found a way around Jarvis (which Tony seriously doubts because Jarvis was made by him so he's almost flawless, duh) or he's telling the truth (also something Tony seriously doubts).

"You are certain brother? That id the last thing you remember?" Loki doesn't even hesitate one second. "Of course that's the last thing I remember, I did just tell you that didn't I? Did the potions thicken your skull brother?" he mocks, nudging Thor with his elbow. Thor doesn't react.

"I think my brother and I need some time alone," he says, his words obviously directed to Tony who sighs and stands up slowly.

"Fine, but you better watch out, I'm still not convinced." and with that he walks out of the room.  
  


* * *

  
Steve Rogers is officially confused as hell. Tony came 10 minutes ago with a big sigh

"We asked him some question and I had Jarvis check if he was lying. Not one beep, I honestly don't know what to believe right now." And the only thing Steve can do is agree with Stark. It is true, Loki does look like a kid and, well Steve isn't an expert but he looked really confused back in Central Park. He knows of course that Loki is basically the god of lying but still. If he was tricking them he had to give it to the guy, he'd be the best liar Steve has ever met. And that includes Natasha so that says a lot. Clint is holding his bow and looks ready and more than eager to storm back to the room Loki's in and shoot Thor's brother. Stark's just noticed this and immediately starts to complain

“No weapons in my tower!" he whines. “I’ve just had it rebuild! I like my tower the way I like all my other things! Whole, put it away hawky, this is my tower!" he threatens. Clint shoots him a look but lowers his bow.

"You left Thor alone with that monster? You don't actually believe any of this?" Tony sighs and shrugs

“Look the only thing I know is that from the moment one lie comes out of our favorite reindeer, I'll know about it and since Jarvis hasn't detected any lies from the moment the conversation started until now, that means Loki must be telling the truth."

"Unless he's a really good liar," Clint says "and he is the god of lies isn't he?"

"Look, it doesn't matter how good you are at lying, there is no lie that can't be detected by a system I build!" Tony's somehow managed to conjure up a bottle of whisky from out of nowhere and stops talking after filling a glass (also apparently, suddenly conjured up out of nothing) and sips from it. Before a discussion can be started on the reliability of things made by Tony Stark (one that would probably have ended horribly anyway) footsteps could be heard from the hallway. Two voices drifted to the kitchen, Steve could easily hear them.

"And you are certain they are your friends? They didn't look very friendly to me."

"I have a lot of explaining to do, to you but also to them, but let's just say some bad things happened and they don't trust you." Thor has never been one for subtlety, his loud voice the rather obvious proof. When the two demi-gods enter the kitchen the reactions are immediate. Barton doesn't waste a second and his arrow is pointing at Loki's head the moment he sets foot in the kitchen. Natasha is a little more subtle and her hand hovers close to the gun on her hip. Tony quickly gulps down the rest of the whisky and Steve shifts uncomfortably from where he's sitting at the kitchen table. Bruce takes a few steps back to make sure there's enough room between him and Loki.

Loki doesn't seem bothered by anyone's reaction but Barton’s (granted, Barton is threatening his life and the rest of them are just acting really weird) he quickly steps behind Thor and sneers.

"Lovely friends you have, brother. I'm sure mother would be thrilled to meet them." He raises one eyebrow sarcastically while glancing at the arrow Barton's pointing at his head.

"Mind telling your friend, -Eye of hawk, isn't it? To lower his weapon?"

"Hey Robin Hood," Tony says "what did I say about weapons and exploding arrows? I don't want them in my tower!" Tony is waving his arms up and down but is ignored by Barton.

"Clint, lower your weapon, you don't want to do things you'll regret later." Natasha says calmly, almost as if she doesn't really care whether he'll listen to her or not (which is probably the case).

For a moment it looks like Barton is just going to ignore her, he doesn’t lower his bow and he keeps staring at Loki, who is at the moment still hiding behind Thor. Thor just stands there, looking at Barton, eyes sending one very clear message: _If you shoot that arrow I will crush you_

Loki can practically feel the tension slip away after a few seconds and assumes that the mortal has indeed, lowered his weapon. He steps from behind Thor and glances at his brother. Before he can open his mouth to criticize Thor’s taste in friends the red-haired woman speaks.

“Let’s just assume Loki is telling the truth, what have you told him?” She inquires; hand still close to her gun but her stance would suggest that she meant no harm.  Everyone in the kitchen ignores Barton, who’s scoffing and crossing his arms.

“I told him that it’s not me who has aged, but him who’s been de-aged through experiments done on the Tesseract. I think it would be best to tell him everything later. When all of you finally realize this is not a trick and you can explain it to him yourselves.”

“You want me to tell him what he’s done wrong? Oh please, give me an hour or two?” Barton sneers.

Loki doesn’t like the fact that they’re talking about him like he isn’t even there. He’s also curious, what could he have possibly done, to make _all_ of the people in this room so very angry with him? Thor’s told him that he was around his age, not three-hundred but around 3100 maybe? A lot of things can happen in two-thousand-and-eight-hundred years, Loki knows that, but last thing he remembered the only time he has ever set foot on Midgard was fifty years ago because Thor wanted to meet some mortals and see if they were a match for his battle skills. Obviously they weren’t and the trip hadn’t taken that long.

“If it’s all the same to you,” he says, “I, personally, would feel a lot more inclined to listen to your list of things I’ve done…” For a moment there Loki doesn’t know what tense to use, “or will do… if you put away that bow and your friend would stop her hand from hovering a few inches away from the device that is here apparently known as a gun?” He says the word ‘gun’ like it feels odd on his tongue.

Thor seems surprised that his little brother has spoken at all and in his eyes shines amusement like he finds the situation entertaining. _Easy for him to say, no one in this room looks like they’d like_ his _head on a plate._

To break the very awkward silence that has stretched between them for more than five minutes the man Loki knows as Man of Iron seems to have decided he’ll try to lighten up the mood.

“So until we know Rudolph here isn’t lying, what do we do? Start braiding each other’s hair and tell the newest gossip?”

Loki is confused by the word ‘Rudolph’ but doesn’t react upon it; he does see the reaction of everyone else in the room though. Eye of hawk has decided he can’t stand to be in this room anymore and stalks away from Loki for the second time that day, again followed by the woman. However, the man, whose name is ‘Healer Banner” according to Thor, stays. Loki doesn’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

“Look, friend Stark I understand your confusion and suspicion but you have to trust me. I’m going to Asgard right now to sort things out, I have no doubt that the All-Father already knows what has transpired here on earth and that he and I have much to discuss.”

“Perfect!” Stark exclaims, “You can take your brother with you and sort it all out, far away from my newly rebuilt tower and its recovering city, Ney York!” He’s clapping with his hands and walks over to Thor to clap him on the back giving him a not so gentle push towards the door.

“I don’t think you understand, Loki can’t come, we managed to hide the fact that he wasn’t in his cell when we were working with him on the Tesseract from the people of Asgard but after this… incident there’s no way the Aesir won’t notice it if Loki comes with me. The people of Asgard are still angry and if they weren’t they’ll certainly be now, he isn’t safe in Asgard and-“

“Wait, don’t finish that, if you were going to say that I should let him stay in Stark tower then please for the love of-“ Tony seems at loss about what to say but then after a quick glance at Rogers he continues “America! Don’t finish that sentence!” Both Captain Rogers and Thor are looking utterly confused for a moment before both shake it off.

“Stark, you can’t deny that earth _owes_ Thor big time and even if Loki’s lying, he’s in the body of a twelve-year-old, I think we can handle it, right?” Loki has given up on trying to figure out what they’re talking about half of the time. Since when did the Midgardians owe Thor anything? Those must have been some _really_ busy two-thousand-and-eight-hundred years that he forgot.

“I’m sorry friends but you don’t have a choice. I have to go to Asgard and Loki can’t come with me. If he has to he’ll stay in the guest room the whole time.” Thor says already walking towards the door. Loki wants to object to that because he honestly doesn’t want to stay in that weirdly white room when Thor’s gone but he doesn’t. Thor had already explained to him why Loki couldn’t come with him. He had also said that it would be unwise to provoke the humans for although Loki remembers them as being rather weak, these particular humans obviously weren’t. Before any of the people in Starks kitchen can object Thor already stand on the balcony and has started swinging Mjolnir too. In only two seconds flat he thrusts the hammer forward and then he’s gone.

Loki doesn’t fancy being in the same room as Thor’s “friends” when Thor isn’t there to stop them from trying to kill him he quickly turns around to go look for that guest room Thor had talked about not a few minutes ago, while walking he can vaguely hear the man of iron mutter something under his breath.

“ _Great, this is all just GREAT!”_

**What do you think? Only 3000 words this time. I’m not really sure I like how it turned out. I especially love the scenes with Clint and Loki in one room! Please review/comment to say what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three! I really enjoy writing this story and I hope you like reading it! If you do please remember to leave a review/comment! Again English is not my native language therefore mistakes will be unavoidable.**

Captain America tries wrapping his head around it. Right now he's watching Loki, sitting in the guest room Stark has assigned him to. He still thinks it's invading privacy that Tony apparently even has cameras in guest rooms but right now he's relieved about it. He knows that he is one of the few who'll actually watch over Loki right now, Tony is still angry because Clint downright refuses to let go of his bow since Loki is still in the tower. Bruce looks like he actually wants to look over Loki even if it's just because he thinks it kind of fascinating that his enemy is now a child. He obviously wants to find out more but is afraid (with good reason) that he won't be able to control the Other Guy, even if he's just watching. Natasha and Clint don't need explaining, duh. And with Thor gone that only leaves. Steve.

Thor had said he wanted _them to_ tell Loki everything, easier said than done. He glances at the screen again, so far Loki has done nothing but sitting on the bed, swinging his legs, looking deep in thought. None of the Avengers had had any decent sleep last night, with their former arch-enemy sleeping in the same building as them and, now that Steve is thinking about it, Loki hadn’t eaten anything. Stark had somehow managed to make one of his robots bring Loki food but the demi-god hadn’t even touched it. Now, Steve Rogers is no expert, he doesn’t know whether Norse gods need food to survive on earth. He has heard that Thor had needed food when he was banished but then, he hadn’t had his godly powers and had been just a very strong mortal. It was just so very confusing and no one had ever bothered to tell Steve how it all worked. _But_ Steve decides after pondering over it for a very long time _it can’t be healthy, even for a god, not to eat._ And of course, if Loki dies of malnutrition then Thor will come back to earth and kill them. It’s still early in the morning so it’s time for breakfast. He takes the food the robot was about to bring to Loki and walks towards the guest room. The robot doesn’t seem to mind and turns around, to do, whatever little robots do.

By the time Steve reaches Loki’s room he realizes he has no idea what to say to him.

_Hi there, you better eat this food because if you don’t Thor will come to earth and kick my ass._

After a few seconds of standing outside Loki’s door and still not knowing what to say, the door suddenly opens. Loki peeks through and seems surprised.

“What are you doing?” he asks. At first Steve doesn’t know what to say, dumbstruck, he feels stupid for standing there like an idiot.

“I noticed you haven’t eaten anything since you arrived on earth.” He says

“I don’t need your food,” Loki says, glancing at the plat in Steve’s hands, a look of suspicion and then it hits him. Loki thinks they’re going to poison him. Because why else would he not eat? Why else would he keep glancing at the food with a look of mistrust and perhaps fear? Why else would he only open the door just enough for him to stick his head out.

“But our food is really good!” Steve tries, only now he really looks at what’s on the plate, waffles. You can say a lot of things about Tony Stark but he did know how to treat his guests.

Suddenly a thought comes to him, Asgardians probably don’t have waffles maybe that’s why Loki’s so suspicious?

“These are waffles, they’re amazing and you should eat something while Thor’s away.” Loki possibly _glares_ at him.

“I know what waffles are, friend of Thor and I do not need them.” The lie is obvious that Steve wonders how Loki ever became the God of Lies.

He decides to try something else. “Thor said to me I had to make sure you’d eat.” That does have an effect. Loki seems happy that Thor has thought about him and hesitantly opens the door.

“Fine.” He says begrudgingly. Once the door is open he steps back and quickly sits on the bed. Steve’s relieved Loki doesn’t need more encouragement but the fact that Loki now seems to trust Thor gives him food to think. The adult Loki would surely have refused even more fiercely when hearing Thor’s name. Steve quickly steps inside and decides it’s better if he leaves the door open, that way Loki won’t feel threatened. He’s still not convinced this is all a trick but if he has to he’ll play along until he’s sure of the truth. He sets the plate down on the table before Loki and sits down on a chair by that same table. Loki seems confused by this.

“Look I’m not going to attack you, I’m just here to take the plate back with me once you’ve finished. Loki doesn’t seem convinced and watches him through narrowed eyes.

“If you think bringing me Midgardian food will bring you in good graces with Thor then I must disappoint you.” He says while picking up the fork and knife. He’s still watching the Captain as if he expects him to suddenly attack.

Steve is a bit confused; he has no idea how to react to something like that. Does Loki think that Steve is just bringing him food to get Thor to like him? Not because he’s worried that Loki _needs_ food? Of course there’s a little bit truth behind that statement. He is bringing Loki food because if he doesn’t Thor would be mad but still that’s not the only reason, even if Thor wouldn’t be mad, Captain America wouldn’t let anyone starve to death. Not even his enemy.

“I just want to make sure you eat, you haven’t eaten anything in two days, I don’t care if you’re practically a god, it can’t be healthy.” Steve shrugs, trying to sound like it’s only logical and he’s not having a conversation with the guy who tried to take over earth.

Again Loki’s not convinced. When he’s done he pushes the plate away as if he can’t stand to be too close it. Steve stands up and is just about to leave when Loki speaks up.

“Wait,” Steve turns around, Loki is looking at him, he doesn’t look afraid anymore.

“Thor said one of you has to explain to me what happened. When are you planning to do that?” he says, looking Steve in the eyes, a determined look on his face but Steve can see the doubt. He can see Loki _wants_ to know (assuming this isn’t him being an excellent actor) but he’s also afraid of what he might hear.

Steve sighs, “I don’t know, I think that if we do, all of us will.” With that he turns back around, leaves the room and closes the door behind him. Captain America really doesn’t know whether any of the Avengers will want to tell Loki because none of them believe he’s telling the truth. But while he’s walking he knows he’s starting to believe Loki, he’s not entirely sure yet but he’s starting to doubt that this is all one big scheme.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki is bored. He’s been sitting here for hours and nothing has happened. These so called friends of Thor hadn’t even given him a book to read and let’s face it Loki’s just 300, he’s still just a kid and he wants to do something, _anything_ that doesn’t involve sitting on the bed of the guest room of a gigantic tower for hours with nothing to keep him busy.

He knows it’s a bad idea to go outside, but he won’t go far and he’ll make sure no one sees him. He’ll just go look for the library, find some interesting books to read and return to this room before they even notice he’s gone. With that in mind he slides of the bed and opens his door. The door is slightly ajar, just enough so that Loki can check if the hallway is clear. When he’s certain it is he quietly opens the door and sneak out trying to be as silent as possible. He’s decided he won’t use any magic, he doesn’t know these people and maybe they have a way to know when he’s using magic. He doesn’t want to take that risk, so he’ll just have to rely on his other skills. He doesn’t even know where to go but after some internal debate chooses to go right. On his left there’s a door, closed but he hear someone’s inside, talking. Loki creeps towards the door and tries to listen to what the person is saying.

“Thor has left us no other choice sir. Earth owes him a lot and I assume this is only temporary, as soon as Thor gets back from Asgard he’ll take the war-criminal with him.” It’s the woman and she sounds like she’s not entirely convinced that what he she says is actually going to happen. _War-criminal?_ Loki wonders. _Is she talking about me?_   _There hasn’t been a war since the battle with the Frost Giants._ He can hear the woman is still talking but it’s much quieter now and Loki doesn’t understand what she’s saying so he continues his search for the library. He knows it’s only been a few seconds since he’s left his room so he still has time to properly look for the library. He just hopes there actually is a library in this building. Before he can take another step however he bumps into something, or rather someone. The man who calls himself Man made of Iron is standing there, only he doesn’t look like he’s made of iron, he looks like a normal mortal. He looks just as surprised to see Loki here as Loki is to see him. Before the man can open his mouth Loki decides it’s best to just tell the guy the truth.

“I was just looking for the library,” he says “I was bored in your guest room and simply thought some distraction from this boredom was needed.” He tries to sound polite because Thor told him to be nice to these people but it’s hard, they’re mortals and they’re not even nice ones.

The man still looks flabbergasted. “JARVIS? Why wasn’t I warned that LOKI is running around freely in my tower?” After that a string of curses follow and he looks possibly murderous. The person he was referring to as ‘Jarvis’ does not answer and Loki’s wondering if the man has lost his mind because there’s no one else here besides him.

Before he can say anything else a door opens and the red-haired woman steps into the hallway.

“What’s all this fuss about?” she says, gun in her hand. Then she sees Loki.

“You let him wander around the tower Stark?” she sneers pointing her gun at the general direction of Loki’s head. He honestly doesn’t understand why everyone’s reacting like this. He just explained didn’t he? He was just looking for the library he wasn’t planning murder or anything. He hadn’t even pranked anyone yet and it already seemed they mistrusted him more, than anyone he’s ever pranked before. Whatever he had done in the last two-thousand-and-eight-hundred years it certainly hadn’t made him very popular.

“I apologize for the problems I’ve caused you. I did not realize leaving the room would have an effect like this. I shall return immediately.” He sighs. He just wanted to find a book to read, he honestly doesn’t know what was wrong with that but, as he now found out, it is something he isn’t supposed to do. From what he gathers, he now knows that he isn’t even allowed to leave his room. He turns around to leave but sees someone is blocking his path. He doesn’t really care who it is, what does it matter? They’d just start to scream he wasn’t supposed to be here anyway.

“Excuse me, could you move aside, I cannot pass this way.” He says, the person doesn’t move so Loki steps to the right himself  to let whoever is blocking his path, pass. Only he doesn’t. Loki glances up, it was the same guy that had brought him his breakfast. The Captain.

“What’s happening out here?” The Captain asks. Loki just shrugs and expects the Man of Iron or the re-haired woman to answer the question but they don’t. He quickly glances at their direction and the looks on their faces would have been hilarious in different circumstances. They look possibly flabbergasted, even more so than when they had seen him in the hallway not a few minutes ago.

“I was just returning to my room,” Loki says before trying to pass again and failing (again). Now both the woman and the man behind him seem to have woken up from their frozen state.

“Why don’t you go with him, capsicle,” The male mortal says. “To make sure he _actually_ returns to his room.”

_I have never met more paranoid, untrusting beings ever. And I’ve met quite a lot of creatures._

Loki thought angrily. It wasn’t fair! He didn’t even know what he had done to earn such contempt and distrust. And they wouldn’t even tell him! But he couldn’t say that out loud. He was in their territory right now and with Thor away to Asgard he doesn’t think it wise to provoke them. Still he didn’t like the way they were treating him so before he left with the Captain he wouldn’t stop himself from sneering at them.

“I was just looking for a book, you know. I wasn’t trying to kill you all in your sleep!” and with that he walks away, back to that boring guest room.

XxXxXxXxXx

Clint Barton wants to murder someone. Preferably, Loki but if he’s not around, some other bad guy will do as well. He’s standing next not Natasha in Stark’s gigantic living room. They’re all standing except for Tony who’s sitting on his couch sipping at some scotch. Barton is furious. They let that monster walk freely in the tower. If it had been Barton who had found Loki he would’ve killed him on the spot. The only thing that had stopped him before was the fact that he didn’t have an excuse and he couldn’t just kill Loki with Thor practically glaring at him. After Thor left it had been clear that the only way Barton could kill Loki with the minimal wrath of Thor was when Loki slipped up or stepped out of line. Then he had an excuse, something to cool Thor’s rage when he found out Barton had killed his little brother. Now he had missed a perfectly good excuse.

“Why do we even allow him a room? He should be rotting in a cell, without food and water, preferably.” He grunts glaring at Tony Stark and yes even at Natasha because, hell she could’ve shot that demon but she hadn’t.

“You know why, Thor would kill us if we did that.” Steve answers.

“Yeah right, and Loki WILL kill us if he gets the chance and we’re practically throwing opportunities at him!” Barton snarls, he really doesn’t have the patience for this. He knows this is everything but professional. But they _have_ him, unarmed and completely helpless and instead of dealing justice they’re standing here with Loki not five yards away from them. Loki _killed_ Coulson. He had killed the very man who had brought Barton into SHIELD. The man who had taken him in and had been more of father than his real dad had ever been.

“We should at least put a lock on that door.” Natasha says, looking uncomfortable which is unusual for her.

“A lock? We should chain him up!” Barton crosses his arms, he ignores the fact that it probably looks weird, with a bow in one hand.

“I don’t know Barton,” Steve says, “I don’t think Loki is tricking us. He really doesn’t act like he did when he invaded earth. He really looks sincere and he truly looks confused whenever we mention what he did.”

“It’s called acting!” Barton says sarcasm clear in his voice. “I can’t believe you’re all falling for this. This is the guy who killed hundreds of people! Innocent people! Tasha,” he says. But when he sees her face he sees doubt. _She’s staring to believe that monster?_

“He _killed_ Coulson!”  at this point he’s almost yelling, anger taking over and years of training forgotten for a fleeting moment before all of that training kicks in again and he calms down.

“I’m not saying I believe him, Barton. I’m just not sure what to believe right now. Captain rogers is right, when he spoke in the hallway he sounded sincere, he sounded like a confused twelve-year-old who doesn’t understand what’s going on. Look I’m not telling you to trust him, I’m telling you to start looking at this professionally instead of personally. If you keep going on like this Barton, you’re going to be compromised.” And he knows that what’s she’s saying is true. That doesn’t mean he _likes_ it. That doesn’t mean he’ll actually do what she says because he can’t. But he can pretend he does. He can pretend he agrees but he’ll always make sure to keep an eye on that little monster.

  _One wrong move and he’s a dead man._

XxXxXxXxXx

There’s nothing but darkness, no light shines where the Chitauri live unless their master wills it so. The being known as the Other is looking at the only source of light in the entire realm. He’s searching the universe, he searching Ygdrasill’s roots, he’s looking for the Trickster God, the liesmith, the Sly One, whatever name you preferred. He is looking for Loki, the Jotunn who had failed the Chitauri and almost destroyed them because their master wills it because their master has promised the Father of Lies:

_If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain._

He does not have the Tesseract. The Trickster has failed Him and now he shall pay the price. The Other is looking and when he finds him he immediately informs his master.

“Master!”

Thanos does not even blink He thinks the Other just a useful tool but not worthy of His attention. The next sentence does make him look down at his servant, from where he’s seated on his throne.

“We found him.”

**What do you think? Is it an overused plotline? Yes. Do I have any idea where this is going? No. Can you give some ideas? Yes. Pleas review/comment!**

**xxTheAlgea**


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am now offcially looking for a beta( I don't really know how it works but I've figured this out: he/she will correct my spelling mistakes or something?) please, if you're interested contact me!

**Still not sure where this is going but there are so many possibilities! In this chapter I'll make Loki more grown-up than you'd expect for a twelve (or eight-hundred)-year-old. He's based on the Loki of Journey Into Mystery (since I'm currently reading those comics)**

It had been two days since the library incident and Tony Stark would be lying if he denied he started to like the kid. By now all of them had established that even if this was all a trick they would be able to handle Loki in the body of a twelve-year-old in Stark Tower. Loki had been given some books the day after the little misunderstanding and Loki hadn't done anything suspicious except _thanking_ them, which had been rather awkward because no one really expected a sign of gratitude from their enemy because they brought him some books. Since Loki hadn't mentioned anything specific they had settled upon 'Shakespeare's Sonnets' and 'Great Expectations”. That very same day while Tony had been working Jarvis had interrupted him.

'Sir, Loki requests if you could come to his room since he is not allowed to leave it himself." Tony really hadn't liked that.

"Why can't Steve go? Or Natasha?" (the other two had been left out of that question for very obvious reasons)

"Mr. Rogers is jogging and miss Romanoff is with Mr. Barton." okay so the AI did have a good reason for not calling someone else but still, Tony didn't like it.

"What does he want?" Tony had asked. Turns out Loki is a big fan of Shakespeare and the only thing he had wanted was more books. Tony being a fan of Shakespeare himself (although he would never admit it to anyone) hadn't been able to stop himself from talking with Loki about it. Before he knew it they had a full on sonnet battle and were quite enjoying themselves. Only when he had left Loki's room he had realized he had been talking to his enemy for hours and nothing bad had happened at all! And he had to admit it to himself. Young Loki was not as bad as he thought he'd be. After setting some of his prejudices aside (not all of them he still was cautious) he found out he actually starts to like the kid. Of course he wouldn't say that out loud to anyone. Barton still refuses to let go of his bow (or at least his knives).

XxXxXxXxXx

Bruce Banner doesn't know what to do. He wants to find out about Loki but to do that he has to be in his close proximity. Now last time that happened the Other Guy had pounded Loki into Stark's floor (something he was certain of Tony still hadn't forgiven him for) so he was having an internal debate. Maybe he should take someone with him but then if the Other Guy came out that someone might get hurt. Like all of the Avengers he really wanted to know whether Loki was lying or not. Now Bruce Banner is a man of science and Steve and Natasha can say they think Loki’s telling the truth, there only one way Bruce will actually believe it, when he asks Loki himself. But like previously stated, it was easier said than done.

It takes Bruce the whole morning before he finally decides to go to Loki’s room. He ends up in front of Loki’s door way too fast for his liking. Not sure what to do next he hesitantly knocks. The door opens rather slowly and Loki’s head pops up from behind it. When he sees the scientist his eyes widen before he narrows them.

“Can I help you with something, Healer Banner?” He asks, with eyebrows raised skeptically.

“No… I mean yes, I mean you can’t really help me but-“ Bruce really isn’t good at this. Loki has opened the door more know and Bruce can’t help but notice the book lying on the table.

_Hamlet_

“-You read Shakespeare?”

Loki doesn’t seem surprised.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do. However I am quite certain you are not here to talk about Hamlet or am I mistaken?” Loki takes a step back and opens the door fully, beckoning the doctor to come in.

“No, you’re right that’s not the reason why I came here.” Bruce says stepping into the room and wringing his hands together.

“I assume you are here for a reason. One that has something to do with the missing millennia from my memory. If you are then I am afraid I must disappoint you, for I do not remember anything.” He says it so lightly, like it doesn’t really bother him. Bruce is no expert when it comes to social skills, or when people are lying, spotting tells but he can see Loki does care. That he’s wrestling with it, it’s obvious that he really wants to know what has happened (that is if you assume he’s not manipulating everyone into thinking he doesn’t remember, why does everything has to be so complicated?)

“So you really don’t remember anything?” Bruce asks, because he has no idea what to say otherwise.

“As I have told Thor, the Captain of America and the Man made of Iron several times: I do not.” Is it Bruce or does he sound bitter?

“I do not know what you want me to do? Do you want me to lie and tell you that I do remember because I don’t!” Yep definitely bitter.

“No, it’s not that, it’s just, difficult to believe all of this, with everything that has happened-“

“WHAT happened?” No not bitter, full-out angry. “You, _friends_ of Thor keep referring to _whatever_ happened in the few millennia I don’t remember! I don’t KNOW what happened, but if you Midgardians just told me I-“ He suddenly cuts himself, turning around, with his back to Bruce.

“I don’t remember so you might as well leave.” He says before he grabs Hamlet again, plops on the bed and starts reading like nothing’s happened. Bruce might not be best in getting hints but he gets this one he stands up and leaves the room, closing the door behind him, deep in thought. Even if Loki’s lying, telling him what happened wouldn’t do any harm. Maybe he’d talk to Tony when they’re working together.

XxXxXxXxXx

“I don’t agree to this!” Of course it’s Clint, who else would it be?

“Look, it won’t do any harm, if he’s lying and tricking us then what harm would it do, just telling him what he already knows?” It’s Steve, naturally for some reason Steve seems to be the one who has developed some kind of fondness for Loki. Of course so has Tony but he doesn’t want anyone to know that while Steve doesn’t seem to have a problem with just that.

“With all due respect, agent Barton but your vision is clouded by the thought of revenge.” Steve says calmly. Tony can see it frustrates Barton to no end that what Steve is saying is true and before anyone can stop him he’s already stalked out of the room with angry long strides.

“I’m with Captain Spandex on this one, telling Loki isn’t going to cause any harm.” Steve is just rolling his eyes at the nickname and Natasha nods.

“Fine but who’s going to tell him? Obviously not Hawkeye.” She sighs glancing in the direction her colleague has disappeared.

Both Tony and Bruce are looking at the obvious choice and after a while so is Natasha. Steve just nods. “Fine I’ll tell him.” He says before standing up and walking towards Loki’s room that leaves the other three standing there, in the kitchen in an awkward silence.

“Who wants to watch a movie?” Tony exclaims.

“I better check on Clint,” Natasha says and then she stalks away. That only leaves on victim and Bruce isn’t fast enough to run nor can he make up some acceptable excuse so he ends up watching something called “The Matrix” with Tony.

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve ignores the sudden very loud shooting noises coming from Stark’s living room and focuses on Loki who’s sitting on the bed before him. He’s swinging his legs impatiently waiting for Steve to start talking.

“Look I’m going to start at the beginning and the only things I know, Thor told me so I’m sorry if it isn’t very clear.”  Steve really doesn’t know how to start but when he does he realizes this is going to be much easier than he expected, at first. He starts with the crowning ceremony and the little trip to Jotunheim Loki and Thor had taken. When he gets to the banishment he can see Loki flinch. But then comes the really difficult part, the part where Odin tells Loki he’s a Frost Giant.  He has stopped his story just before it happens and hesitates, unsure of how to continue.

“I assume this is the part where my true heritage is revealed?” Loki says to his surprise.

“Wait, you know about that?” Is the only things Steve can say.

“Thor told me.” Loki shrugs casting his eyes downward. “It’s not important, finish the story.” Steve really doesn’t know how to react to _that_. Loki knew because Thor told him and here he was saying that it wasn’t important. Steve wants to know more, what else has Thor told him but he cut off before he can ask anything.

“It is not relevant right now,” Loki’s looking at Steve again, in the eye. “Continue.” So Steve does. He talks about the Destroyer and eventually he comes to the part where Loki falls from the Bifrost, that does provoke a reaction.

“Wait, I fell from the Bifrost?” Loki asks, he looks deep in thought. “Yes.” Steve says and before he can continue because he finds this rather awkward Loki speaks again.

“But if I have fallen from the Bifrost I fell into the rift?”

“A what now?” Steve can’t follow this anymore, he can barely remember the names of the nine world (okay he can’t he only know Asgard, Midgard and the tree Ygdrassil).

“A rift, the destruction of Jotunheim and me falling from the Bifrost must have opened the Void.” He explains waving with his left hand like it’s nothing, he’s deep in thought again before he realizes that Steve has absolutely no clue of what he’s talking about.

“The void,” he repeats. “You could say it’s the Space-In-Between.”

_Yeah sure, now I get it_ Steve thinks sarcastically and his look apparently says so too because Loki continues.

“You have the Nine Worlds, connected to Ygdrassil but there is… space, there are places that are not part of this universe, it’s the unknown space between the roots and branches of Ygdrassil.” He tries. Well now Steve can follow, sort off. Deciding to pretend he understands Steve nods. That seems to satisfy Loki it doesn’t make him stop talking though.

“But if I fell into the Void I must have died, no one survives there…”

“Well you did, congratulations because this story isn’t finished yet.” Steve says. Loki falls silent and listens to Steve again but it seems like his mind is somewhere else until he mentions the Chitauri and the Other.

“Wait, what?” Loki has been jostled awake by the word Chitauri it would seem.

“The Chitauri, as in the _warrior race_?” he asks. Steve doesn’t know what other Chitauri there are so he just decides to shrug and nod. “They looked like warriors to me.”

“And you said they were led by whom?”

“Well, _you_ I guess.”

_This is turning awkward_

“No you said they were under the command of someone called ‘The Other’?” Loki asks jumping from the bed like he’s excited about something or at least has found something that has interested him?

“Yeah but-“

“You must be mistaking,” Loki says tilting his head, making him look like a dog who doesn’t understand something. It only makes Steve want to believe him more because he really does look cute doing that.

“The Chitauri are led by Thanos, their Lord, he who held the Infinity Gauntlet and sought once to destroy everything.” It sounds like Loki is reciting some kind of ancient text. “But the Gauntlet is in Asgard and he should not possess any of the Infinity Gems, all of them were shattered across the universe. Some of them destroyed permanently.” Loki pauses and looks up to the Captain once again.

“Tell me the name of the item he sought.”

“You mean the Tesseract? I-“ Loki doesn’t even listen anymore he cuts Steve’s sentence short.

“Skip the rest of the story Captain, did the Chitauri get a hold on the Tesseract?”

“No they didn’t we managed to avoid that it’s in Asgard right now.” At that Loki looks relieved.

“I’m sorry for interrupting,” he says.

“I don’t understand,” Steve says (the same thing he has thought about a hundred times already in the past hour) “If Thanos is the real leader, why didn’t Thor tell us?”

Loki’s head is now if possible, very red.

“I might or might not have created an illusion to cover for Thor the day we were given that lesson. He was out hunting and had asked me to do so.” He’s looking down again and shuffling his feet. Steve has to suppress a smile at that. It showed that once Loki and Thor _had_ been brothers and that there had been a time they cared for each other. He clears his throat before continuing.

By the time he’s finished Loki is pale and his lip is trembling.

“How many… How many people did I kill?” He asks. Steve should be shocked that he hasn’t even asked about the Frost Giants, that he hasn’t even batted an eyelash when he had told him about destroying their world and killing them all. But he remembers Thor telling them about how they were raised. What they had been told about the Frost Giants so he decides to just ignore it for now.

“Hundreds? More? I don’t know, you hurt a lot of people, Loki” Steve says. And only now he realizes that he has forgotten that he should mistrust Loki and that this all might have been a trick because it hasn’t even crossed his mind once when he had been talking and also not when Loki had been talking.

Loki looks up but when he does, his lip isn’t trembling anymore. He looks confused but that’s it. There’s no guilt and for that for one moment Steve is angry. Doesn’t he feel anything? No regret? No guilt for all the people he has hurt and it must have showed in his face because Loki scrambles back. Steve can’t help himself, he has to ask:

“Don’t you feel any guilt? Or regret?”

Loki looks away again fidgeting with the sheets between his fingers.

“I told you Captain, I don’t remember anything. I know I should feel guilty but I don’t _remember_. I don’t know what you want me to say Captain, I don’t know how I feel it’s all just so confusing I’m three-hundred Captain and you are talking about deed I have done but only more than two-thousand years in the future! I don’t know how I feel Captain, I don’t-“ he tries to hide the tears shimmering in his eyes but he fails and then he starts to sob. Quietly, like he’s ashamed and Steve understands. Because Steve knows what it feels like to be out of time. He knows that it’s confusing and disorienting and people keep telling you what has happened but you don’t know how to feel because whatever has happened you weren’t there, or in Loki’s case, he doesn’t remember. And the Captain immediately regrets his actions his outburst because it’s not fair to be angry right now. Because he can’t expect Loki to feel guilt for something he doesn’t remember doing, not immediately.

Maybe later, when Loki actually is able to sort things out, maybe _then_ it would be fair to Loki to expect regret and guilt but not now. At that moment Captain America doesn’t care that it may all be a grand scheme to kill them all because at that moment Loki looks like a scared twelve-year-old who’s confused as hell and has no idea what to do next. It make Steve want to hug him but he doesn’t because it’s still _Loki_ and also because Steve has no idea how Loki would react to it so Steve does the next best thing: he leaves the room to let Loki think and sort things out because Steve knows that’s what Loki need right now. It’s what he had needed back when he had woken up only to find out he’d been asleep for _years_ …

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki lets out a sigh of relief when the Captain finally leaves. He needs some time to think, alone. Everything the Captain’s told him has horrified him. He’d never try to kill Thor, yes sometimes he was an idiotic oaf and he could be so very irritating but he was still his friend. _Not brother_ he thinks. But then he hates himself for even thinking such a thing. But it’s true, Loki’s a Frost Giant, a monster… _No don’t think about that, anything but that_

The Captain had said that Loki had tried to kill Thor with the destroyer and after that (and after falling in the Void) had tried to take over Midgard, claiming that the Midgardians were made to be ruled but Loki had never given the Midgardians much thought. They were there, just like all the other living beings were in the Nine Worlds and he doesn’t even want to rule them. Just like the Jotuns do,

_No! Focus, Loki, focus!_

If he’s honest with himself he doesn’t even want the throne of Asgard because no one really likes him or wants him to be. What good is a throne when everyone you rule hates you? Thor could have the throne for all Loki cares, Thor was much more popular anyway. _Thor_ , how could he still claim to love him? How could he even stand the sight of Loki? If what the captain had said was true (and he knows it is) than Thor should have killed Loki when given the chance for he had betrayed him and tried to murder him. For he had killed hundreds of innocent people just for some stupid throne he didn’t really want.

But something didn’t seem right, the way Captain Rogers had said it had ended. From the stories and lessons Loki had had he had learned quite a few things about the Chitauri. First of there were billions of them. Now he didn’t know much about these radio-active rackets but he did know that if Thanos was behind it the Chitauri never could have lost like that. Midgard was a weak force, there was no reason for Thanos to station all his troops in one place just for Midgard. It didn’t add up. The Tesseract is a very powerful item but it is not part of the Infinity Gems so why would Thanos want it? He doesn’t have time to ponder about it though (because everything’s better than to think about the lives he’s destroyed or how he has betrayed Thor) because his door literally flies open, he doesn’t know what’s happening but then he sees an arrow, (again) pointed at his head (again) and the Eye of Hawk with a murderous look on his face (again).

**Yes, again with the cliffhanger but I must warn you, the next chapter’s cliffhanger will be much worse! Please review/comment I literally check my mail every two minutes to see if I have any reviews/comments at all!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still looking for a beta here ;)

**I’m so psyched for the part with Hawkeye and Loki in one room! This scene has been going through my head multiple times so I hope you like it! Please comment/review also you can read this story on fanfiction.net and archive of our own :)**

**I decided that I will give you all a preview on Wednesdays if this chapter has _more_ than 5 reviews!**

The only thing missing for this to be a dramatic scene from some thriller movie is smoke rising from the ground and enveloping Hawkeye, of course there is no smoke that kind of thing only happens in movies and movies aren’t real.

The look on Barton’s face _is_ though. His hands are trembling and his knuckles white, he looks like he’s going to lose it any time and _that_ Loki thinks _does not bode well for me_.

“So,” Barton spits through gritted teeth “Steve told you everything and you don’t seem to be a bit remorseful. Do you remember now?”

Loki has two options. Pretending he does remember (but he doesn’t so that would go wrong very easy and quick) or tell the truth (which would probably be like signing his death warrant too). Neither of those options seem very appealing but since the truth seems to be the option that will get him killed the least quick he decides to go with the truth.

“I do not remember but yes, the Captain told me everything.” _Including what I apparently did to you._

“You _don’t_ remember? You’re telling me you don’t remember killing all those people? KILLING agent Coulson?” If the arrow could have been drawn back more, it would have, his arms are trembling with the strain.

Loki doesn’t know how to answer to that. What would be the answer to not get him killed? Or not immediately at least. Since he really doesn’t know what to say next he decides to just not to say anything, maybe that will win him some time. Hopefully enough time for someone to notice that Hawkeye is missing and to get him the heck out of Loki’s room before he fires that arrow.

“You took my mind, you took my free will away from me, forced me to kill innocent people! You used me like a puppeteer does his puppets and now you want me to believe you don’t remember doing all of that?” Loki can see he’s trying to restrain himself but it’s not working that well. Loki’s trying to subtly inch away but he’s not stupid enough to try to inch towards the door (though he wishes that is an option).

“You used the Tesseract to open a portal to let the Chitauri wreak havoc on New York and kill hundreds of people. Oh and because you used your scepter to take over my mind I have been tormented by nightmares and guilt for what _you_ made me do!” Loki still doesn’t remember but something inside of him makes him feel like he knows what the man who’s threatening his life is talking about. He does know the scepter for some reason. He knows what it does but he can’t remember or put his finger on what the scepter really is.

It’s foggy in his mind and somehow every time he tries to think about what it looks like, how it would feel like holding it, feeling its power, he gets a headache and he just can’t think about it anymore. He doesn’t know how it can be that he remembers nothing but that what the archer says now makes so much sense, how it can be that he knows he once held this scepter and wielded its power but for some reason it leaves sour taste in his mouth because it feels like those memories are _wrong. There’s one thing he knows for certain:_ He _knows_ that the scepter never lets you go, that once you’ve been enslaved by it you’ll never be the same person again because it is like a snake, once it has its prey it won’t let go until the prey is dead. And he doesn’t know how he knows he just does. Loki also knows that telling Eye of Hawk this information won’t help his situation so he keeps quiet.

“You know, everyone else seems to be buying you little…act but I’m not. I know what you are, you’re a monster and just because you don’t look like one now doesn’t mean you aren’t.” Loki’s face must have showed his fear because suddenly Barton lowers his bow and _smiles_.

“So let me make this clear, _Loki_ , if you slip up, if you give me even the smallest reason to think you’ll hurt someone you won’t have to bother to pretend anymore because I will kill you.” The look on the man’s face leaves no doubt that what he says is exactly what he’ll do, he’ll kill Loki the moment he has the chance to.

XxXxXxXxXx

“So how did our reindeer react?” It’s Tony of course. Even Bruce is looking at Steve, looking a little bit too happy to not be in the room alone with Tony Stark anymore. The film is still playing and the noise hurts Steve’s ears. There’s a lot of shooting going on there.

“He didn’t say much.” Steve answers. “I don’t think he’s trying to trick us. He’s really confused about all of this and-“ Before he can finish what he is saying, Natasha suddenly practically runs into the living room.

“Have you seen Barton?” She asks, scanning the room quickly and when she sees he’s not here she directs her gaze at the three of them. She looks concerned.

“Legolas? I thought you were with him, Arwen?” Tony snickers and then he sips from his scotch again (seriously where does he keep those?)

“He was, we were on the roof but I turn my back on him for two minutes next thing I know he’s gone.”

She hasn’t even finished her sentence yet when Steve’s already turned around and runs out of the room. Both Bruce and Tony share a look for two milliseconds before coming to the same conclusion Steve had before them.

_Loki_

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve doesn’t know if he’s ever sprinted this fast in his life, he doesn’t even bother opening any door but just storms right through them and hopes he can get there in time. While he’s running he doesn’t even think about the fact that Thor would be angry if Barton killed Loki, the only thing he thinks about is that he’s concerned about Loki. He _cares_ about him and that’s also the moment he just accepts that he cares about his former enemy and that he actually believes Loki. And then he crashes into the very man he was looking for: Clint Barton.

Neither of them expects to collide with each other so they both lose their balance and slide across the floor for a few seconds, both a bit dazed.

“What are you doing?” Clint asks while rubbing his head and grabbing his bow.

Steve glances next to Clint and can see Loki’s room not two feet away, the door open.

“What were you doing in Loki’s room?” He bites, not wanting to apologize because, hello he’s lying on the ground too you know?

“That’s none of your business, Captain but if you must know I just visited him. He’s still alive if that’s what you’re wondering.” Steve doesn’t know where this anger suddenly comes from but it’s there. He doesn’t realize it yet but he feel some kind of protectiveness towards Loki, because right now he’s a child and Barton is an adult who’s just threatened an unarmed child. He ignores the little voice in his head telling him that that child had almost destroyed New York a few months prior.

“Never thought you’d be _this_ naïve, Captain that you believe your enemy when he’s clearly tricking you.” Barton stands up and is almost run over by someone for the second time that day but he’s quick enough to move out of the way in time. Steve doesn’t even have time to be surprised that it’s Tony who’s running the fastest because Tony just runs right past them to Loki’s room and disappears inside. Both Bruce and Natasha do stop in front of Barton.

“Did you do anything stupid?” Natasha bites to her colleague.

“Tasha?” Clint says this time looking furious. “I can’t believe you’re falling for this as well, you’re all a bunch of idiots!” and with that he stalks away leaving Steve, Bruce and Natasha standing there in a now empty hallway.

XxXxXxXxXx

Tony doesn’t care that he looks ridiculous because he’s running the fastest or that he’s the only one that’s run to Loki’s room while the others are still standing in the Hallway with Clint. He just hopes Clint hasn’t killed Loki, he just hopes Loki is alright and at that moment he doesn’t even care to deny that he’s beginning to care for Loki. That the little demi-god has grown on him because he worried and because he has other things than his image to worry about right now. He almost runs past Loki’s room but he manages to grab the doorpost and almost trips in his haste to get inside. He doesn’t expect Loki to sit on the bed however with a shocked expression on his face, looking alive and healthy as ever.

“Forgive me for asking Mr.…. Stark? But what are you doing?” Loki asks after a few seconds of awkward silence in which neither of them know what to say to the other.

“I was… did Barton do anything?” Loki gives him a confused look.

“Oh you mean the man with the bow? The man Thor has told me is called Eye of Hawk?” Tony wants to correct Loki because honestly ‘Eye of Hawk’ sounds ridiculous but he just nods.

“Did he try to kill you or anything?” Tone asks trying to not sound _too_ concerned.

“He did point an arrow at my face, but he did not fire it so no, he did not try to kill me.” Loki says looking up as if trying to remember what exactly had happened a few minutes prior.

“Oh good!” Tony can’t stop the relief from showing on his face and smiles faintly.

“We thought he was going to kill you.”

“Yes, that much was clear,” Loki’s smiling as if his life hadn’t been threatened

“But as you can see I’m perfectly fine.” But only know can Stark see that Loki’s not fine. He looks pale and his hands are sweating. His breathing is a bit erratic and it looks like there’s still adrenaline pumping through his system but he doesn’t have the chance to comment on that because Rogers dashes into the room too, followed by Bruce.

“Are you okay?” is the first thing that comes out of his mouth before he can even see Loki properly. Bruce is right behind him, glancing at Tony before looking at Loki. Loki looks like he’s seen a ghost. He looks confused and frowns. He opens his mouth to speak but then closes it as if not sure whether it’s a good idea to speak or not.

“Is something wrong? What did Clint do?” Typical of Steve to think it’s because Loki’s been hurt.

“Why do you care?” 

All three of them are staring at Loki, none of them know what to say to that because why would anyone ask that kind of question? But then Tony remembers that they haven’t been treating him with much respect or care for that matter. They’ve been paranoid and unfair and they’ve even made a fuss just because Loki had tried to find a library. That they’ve only looked at him with hate the last three days and that Loki has no reason to think that they’d care about his wellbeing at all.

And now Tony Stark is starting to feel _guilty_. He’s standing up now and he has an urge to look at the ground like a child that’s just been scolded. One glance sideways shows him that both Steve and Bruce are feeling the same way. Both look shocked and don’t seem to know how to handle this. Well neither does Tony so he just keeps quiet (yes the great Tony Stark does not know what to say, you read that correctly)so naturally it’s Steve who has to do the talking.

“We care because you might’ve gotten hurt, why wouldn’t we care?”

“Because I’m your enemy aren’t I? I’m a monster, because the only reason I’m alive is because Thor told you to keep me alive, why would you even care about whether I’m wounded or not? As long as I’m alive.”

He looks so angry, so scared and confused, emotions that look so foreign and out of place on the face of a twelve-year-old. And then Loki can’t keep it inside anymore, his frame shake with sobs, he’s trying to suppress them, to hide them to not show weakness but he can’t, and none of them care that this is the guy who killed all those people because right now he isn’t, right now he’s a twelve-year-old who doesn’t know what’s happening and is scared to death. It’s Steve though (of course it is) that’s snapped out of his dazed state first and before any of them (including Steve) can register what’s happening he’s already by Loki’s side and he takes him in his arms and comforts him. He’s rocking back and forth and Tony almost laughs at the sigh because there he is, the person responsible for most of his nightmares, sobbing in the arms of Captain America. Bruce, just like Tony, doesn’t know what do next at first but then he sits down on the bed and rubs Loki’s back, awkward at first but the tension soon disappears as Loki doesn’t even to seem to notice anything that’s happening right next to  him and still tries to stop crying.

“Jarvis?”

“Yes, sir?”

“I think you should call Natasha and Clint to the living room.”

“Right now sir?”

Tony glances at Loki who’s still sobbing but it’s lessening and he seems to have gained back control over his body.

“In a few minutes, Jarvis. And tell them it’s not a request, they _are_ coming.”

XxXxXxXxXx

When Loki had finally calmed down enough they had managed to get him to fall asleep. He had almost looked angelic the way he had been laying there in Steve’s arms, it surprised Steve that he hadn’t begun to drool in his sleep which could have completed the picture. Luckily for him Loki didn’t drool and they had managed to lay him down on the bed without waking him.

Now they are standing in the living room, the three of them glaring at Hawkeye who’s glaring back. So basically it’s a glaring contest and although Hawkeye’s two men short he’s not about to lose.

Tony clears his throat after glaring at Hawkeye for good measure and starts to talk.

“We all know what happened, with Merida here almost killing Thor’s brother.” Clint doesn’t react to that but just shifts his glare to Tony.

“And I’ve decided that, since this is still my tower Loki will be given some more freedom to roam around,” Tony quickly hold his hand up to stop Clint or Natasha from protesting because neither Bruce nor Steve feel the need to protest at all.

“in company of at least one of us-“

“ _What?_ ” This time Clint isn’t glaring, he’s throwing his arms in the air and if looks could kill, Tony Stark would be so dead right now.

-and I didn’t call you here to hear your opinion or for your vote, I called you here to tell you about the decision that’s already been made.” Tony is about to leave the room after saying that but then he suddenly turn around and looks at Barton.

“Oh and you, Robin Hood, are banned from even getting close to Loki from now on, you move to the twentieth floor and no, that’s not up for debate” he adds because now even Natasha looks like she’s going to protest but she can’t because Tony just turns back around and walks away, automatic doors closing behind him with a buzzing sound. Barton looks like he’s going to kill someone and Natasha doesn’t look happy either but neither do something threatening or dangerous.

_Beep beep beep_

A little red light flashes on Barton’s arm and then he stalks out of the room followed by Natasha who has a flashing red light of her own.

XxXxXxXxXx

Natasha can’t believe how all of this has turned out. She’s a SHIELD agent, she gets orders and she carries them out because she wants to redeem herself. She wants to wipe out the red on her ledger and for a long time that had been following orders and that’s it, carrying out missions (some of them with Barton) and, a few months ago kicking the bad guy’s ass. But now the bad guy looked like a kid and things are much more complicated than she prefers them to be. She is a warrior (not a soldier) and she carries out missions, she isn’t used to dealing with a god suddenly turned into a child.

And now with Clint acting like this, being consumed by his thirst for revenge, not being who he used to be everything seems to go downhill. She wouldn’t say she and Clint were friends, but they have an understanding, have performed various missions together and trust each other when trust is essential to the mission. Now Clint is compromised, even a flying monkey can see that. And some part of her understands Clint, she understand his anger because agent Coulson had been like a father to him, she knows that.

She doesn’t know how it feels to be under the control of the Tesseract though and she can’t even imagine what it must feel like to have your free will taken from you, to be forced to do things you don’t want to but she gets that it must be a horrible feeling. That it changes you, Clint hasn’t talked to her about it much but from what he has said she understands that it’s torture. Clint has told her about his horrible nightmares of the things he was forced to do and knowing all of that she understands his frustration regarding Loki. She understands his anger but she also understands that if keeps this up she’ll be forced to alert S.H.I.E.L.D. and take Clint of this mission or he might endanger them all.

Right now however she doesn’t have the time to think more about all of this because S.H.I.E.L.D. is calling both her and Barton so that means there must be a mission. And she can’t help but feel relieved because she knows how to handle missions and she knows what to do. She remembers being relieved when the red light flashed because she wouldn’t have to worry about Loki, or other Norse Gods anymore before she hears what Fury has to say

_The Chitauri have invaded Detroit_

**What do you think? I like the cliffhanger hehehe, if you want more, all you have to do is review/comment. I’m not sure how I’m going to do the action stuff yet because I haven’t really written any fights yet so we’ll just have to wait and see** **J** **Oh and the next cliffhanger’s going to be just as bad as this one, just a little heads up for those who thought the cliffhangers would end.**

**Don’t forget, if this chapter gets more than 5 reviews I will post a preview from the next chapter on Wednesday!**

**xxTheAlgea**


	6. Chapter 6

**I just made up the Void thingie, with the in-between, also something that I had been playing with for a long time so yeah, you’ll just have to endure it. Also in the Summer Holidays I’ll be going to Italy for three weeks, evidently I won’t be updating then. It’s from mid-July till somewhere in August I’m not sure and I’m too lazy to check, does anyone of you know a way to ‘plan’ updates’? Like the ‘queue’ on tumblr?** **J** **Please review/comment and bear with me for the action parts.**

**DON’T FORGET! MORE THAN 5 REVIEWS=PREVIEW ON WEDNESDAY**

“Sir?”

“Kinda busy right now,” Tony Stark grunts out. He’s holding a five-hundred pound metal rock while in his Iron Man suite and is currently trying to fit it inside the newest invention he’s building and timing is of the essence because if he can’t fit in there in time things can start to explode very rapidly. Jarvis doesn’t seem to care.

“I’m trying to hold them off sir but they’re insisting.” The British voiced AI informs him.

“Well, I insist they stop insisting and let me work in peace, Jesus I though, me, dramatically leaving would have at least given them a hint.”

Almost there just a little bit further

“Stark, it’s the Chitauri they’re attacking earth!”

So much for the awesome new invention he was building…

XxXxXxXxXx

Director Nick Fury’s patience is thin, _very thin_ and right now it’s even thinner than it usually is. He’s contacted Stark Tower twice this day, once to tell agent Romanoff and Barton that they have to get their asses to Detroit this second and now for a second time, to tell _the Avengers_ to get their asses to Detroit this second and currently they’re putting him on _hold!_

He’s aggressively staring at the computer screen like it has wronged him and in the meantime people are dying and Earth is under attack while Stark thinks it funny to make his stupid talking robot tell him he’s on _hold_ when he tries to contact him. So Fury has to do the next best thing: contact Steve Rogers.

“Sir? Wha-“

“No time for this, the Chitauri are on earth they’re in Detroit, get you asses to Detroit NOW!” Nick Fury doesn’t have time for the surprised look on Bruce and Steve’s faces and he opens his mouth to cut all of their questions off and command them to go to Detroit again but he’s interrupted by Agent Hill.

“Sir, we have a situation here.” She yells because she’s not even inside his office yet and then a screen pops up from his computer and Fury knows the Avengers can see this too.

It’s a Chitauri warrior a grotesque looking creature, covered in blood, _human blood_ , smiling at the screen and waving his gun at it.

“Puny Midgardians we do not wish any more conflict with your realm, all we desire is the Tesseract we know you have here.” Its words are deformed and pronounced wrongly, it’s like the alien isn’t even trying to be understandable.

“The Tesseract is on Asgard we don’t have it.” Fury narrows his eyes at the creature. Surely it knows that? Surely it knows that earth does not possess the Tesseract anymore?

“LIES!” The Chitauri warrior spits and he jabs in the general direction of the camera with his gun again.

“We detected its signal, it was faint but it’s there wherever you’ve hidden it you can’t keep it from us, it’s ours!” He punches at the air and from the background he can hear a horrible clicking, jeering and screaming sound.

“You must have made a mistake then,” Fury tries to say it calmly. “We do not have the Tesseract.”

The alien doesn’t answer, it just looks at the camera with a hideous smirk (if these creatures even _can_ smirk) and for a few agonizing slow seconds it’s silent on the other side of the line.

“But you do have the Trickster,” it suddenly spats out, grin widening, “It’s possible the signal is coming from him, you will deliver us the Liesmith or we kill every single Earthling in this pathetic construction you call a city, you have five hourss.” The last word is hissed out in a way that would suggest the creature has had enough of talking, which turns out to be correct when the signal disappears and the screen goes blank. Fury doesn’t even have to think this one over and he turns around to tell Captain Rogers to get Loki and give him to the damn alien invaders but he’s looking at an empty living room.

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve Rogers is almost run over by Tony who’s in his suit and has flown out of the lab without a second trhought to the doors and wall which are now supporting an Iron Man shaped hole.

“The Chitauri are here?” He asks when coming to a stop a few feet away from Steve who had to jump out of the way and is currently standing up from where he had thrown himself to the ground.

“They’re in Detroit I think it’s time to go.” Steve snaps, angry because he had to pound on that door for five minutes only to be then almost run over by the very man who’s been ignoring him. They both look up when they hear footsteps nearing fast, someone’s running towards them and they’re both prepared for some Chitauri warrior to jump them and start shooting but they’re not prepared for what Bruce has to say when he reaches them.

“They want Loki and if we don’t deliver him to them they’re going to kill their hostages.”

“Hostages what hostages, how many do they have?”

“They-, Detroit?” Bruce says it like it’s a question.

Steve can’t believe this, “They’re holding a whole _city_ hostage?”

Bruce looks pale and he nods.

None of them see the thunder clouds gathering, until they’re all made aware of them because then there’s a resonating B _ANG_ coming from Stark’s roof.

XxXxXxXxXx

When Thor lands on the roof of Stark tower there’s a lot of noise and two craters in the size of Thor’s feet. He looks around and starts walking toward the doors when said doors fly open and Bruce, Steve and Tony come out, Tony first freaks out about his roof but then he seems to calm down very suddenly and his face becomes serious. He doesn’t see Loki though and he cranes his neck to see if maybe he’s hiding behind their backs but Loki isn’t there.

“Thor?” Captain America asks, obviously surprised.

“Of course,” Thor laughs, “Who else would it be?” None of them laugh or react in any other way then just staring and eventually Tony breaks the silence

“We need to talk buddy.” He says, glancing at the craters again.

By the time they’ve uttered the word Chitauri Thor doesn’t listen anymore. He immediately starts swinging his hammer and is obviously planning on just flying out of the tower but Tony manages to stop him just in time by pointing out that Thor absolutely has no idea where Detroit is.

When Thor actually realizes he can’t just go flying off to Detroit right now he does the next best thing; he runs in the general direction of what he remembers where the guest room is at first Tony and Steve try to stop him, but then alarms are blaring. And the voice of Jarvis informs them why.

“Sir, there’s been a security breach, coming from inside Stark Tower.” All of them pale and Tony doesn’t hesitate.

“Where?” he asks already summoning his suit with the bracelets he’s wearing all the time now.

“From what I can gather, sir, _Loki’s room_.”

XxXxXxXxXx

They burst into Loki’s room with such force that the door doesn’t survive it and it’s blasted out of its hinges. Loki, of course, doesn’t even look up. He’s staring at the images, images that show the Hulk smashing Chitauri warriors, that show Thor and Loki battling on Stark Tower and Iron Man killing one of the huge Beasts that had come out of the portal. He sees his adult-self open the portal and sees Hawkeye fire all of his arrows at the enemy. Finally he sees himself being transported back to Asgard via the Tesseract together with his brother and the images stop. His fingers do not and he can see that both the scientist and the Iron Human have figured out that he’s infusing magic with technology he doesn’t care though and keeps scanning for other files. None of them are saying anything because Loki’s not being hostile or is accessing something particularly dangerous and the healer breaks the silence after a few awkward seconds.

“You were sleeping.” He states. Loki just grins and finally does acknowledge that they’re in the same room by looking at them.

“Yes, and sobbing before that I think? You fell for that quite nicely I’d say, I’m not a baby mortal, friend of Thor. Although my brother might have tried to convince you otherwise. I could not just take your word when you told me about my past.” He’s still skimming though the documents and doesn’t care that he made himself suspicious. He just couldn’t stand not knowing now that he does however he wishes he doesn’t, he truly has hurt a lot of people. At first he had tried denying it but now, he can’t do that anymore because he had seen it for himself this time. Then however, comes the message that had been sent by the Chitauri not ten minutes ago, the one where they tell their demands, and all the color drains from his face.

Tony doesn’t succeed in shutting down the system in time and Loki has seen everything. He’s looking at the three mortals and the one god standing in the now way too small guest room.

“I assume you’re all here to take me to Detroit then?” He mutters looking at all of them expectantly, to his surprise (and Thor’s for he had already prepared himself to snatch Loki away so no harm would come to his brother) Tony Stark answers:

“Of course not, we’re gonna destroy those alien bastards and then you’re going to tell me how you hacked into my computer system that easily.”

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve doesn’t like the plan. Thor doesn’t either. Neither do Clint and Natasha who are talking to them via video feed. Bruce doesn’t seem all too happy either and Fury’s been set on mute because he’s screaming at all of them (mostly at Stark) and none of them want to hear him right now. The only two who seem content with it are Loki and Tony, but granted Loki’s probably pretending because he looks a little pale and the idea half comes from Stark, half from Loki so they don’t have any reason to be disgruntled or angry. It’s silent (except in Fury’s room because he’s still screaming) and eventually it’s Thor who opens his mouth.

“I do not agree with this plan, not only is it unreliable, but it also endangers you, Loki”

He’s looking at Loki with eyes pleading him to agree but Loki doesn’t answer he just stares at the scan they’ve made of Detroit and the six red dots flickering at the fundaments of the city. They represent the bombs that have been strategically placed there by the Other. If they explode they’ll bring the city to ruin and there would be no hope for any survivors.

“I will not participate in this plan, brother it’s madness, what are the odds of success? Please reconsider.” Thor’s starting to sound desperate and he doesn’t care that everyone notices this. (Fury has stopped yelling and is now trying to calmly reason with Stark but he can’t because no one pays any attention to him.)

Thor can’t stand it anymore and he takes three big steps to his brother, grabs his shoulders and shakes him roughly.

“Listen to me, brother, there must be another way to do this!” Loki seems tempted to again ignore his brother but he sighs after a moment of pondering and shakes his head.

“There is no other way, everything will be fine if your friends are as mighty as they claim to be there is no reason to fear.” His eyes wander to the scan of Detroit. He sure hopes Thor’s friends are as good as they claim to be for if they aren’t it will be the end for him. Loki doesn’t like that he has to depend on other people besides his brother but he doesn’t have any choice and they’ve wasted three hours already on making this plan. The one hour flight to Detroit and all the preparations that needed to be taken taken into account they have to hurry or they won’t make it in time. He dearly wishes for more time but there is none. There’s not time for an alternative, no matter how hard Thor pleads, this is how it’ll go and Director Fury seems to have realized this because he’s silent now but Thor doesn’t want to accept it just yet.

He wants to protest against this plan again but is cut off by Loki.

“I don’t-“

“Thor!” Loki’s head snaps to the side and his gaze bores into Thor. “There is no other solution so stop dragging on about it!” He narrows his eyes at the demi-god in front of him and glares. Why doesn’t the big idiot just accept it.

“The only thing you have to do is focus on your part of the plan and I’ll worry about mine!” He rips his gaze away from Thor and returns it to the scan. The heat signatures of the Chitauri are moving again and they need to keep an eye on that or everything will be for nothing…

XxXxXxXxXx

“Honestly, holding a whole city hostage just for me, you shouldn’t have.” Loki drawls out as he walks towards the ten Chitauri warriors who are standing in the middle of the road, not far from the actual city. Their heads turn in his direction when they hear him speak and one of them, the leader, obviously, stands and makes horribly noises coming from his throat and his comrades nudge each other like they’ve just shared a joke but Loki knows this is untrue because he has the All-Tongue if they had said anything understandable it would have been translated so he ignores their snickering.

The leader comes closer but not too close, next to him, Loki is very aware of the projection of Nick Fury. The director had other things to do than standing next to Loki for their plan to work, they needed him at the SHIELD headquarters so it was decided a projection would suffice.

Loki’s wearing the outfit he wore when he had arrived on Midgard, light clothing suited for battle not a lengthy one, standing proud and tall like he has planned the whole thing and has everything under his control. He has seen the footage of his adult self and assumes that arrogance is the best way to go, his adult self certainly didn’t have a lack of it. He tries to pretend he doesn’t even notice the chains around his wrists. They look sturdy but they are really not and even with his 300 years he knows he can easily break them, luckily their enemies don’t know that. If he plays this off well, the plan might even succeed. And if it doesn’t than he’ll have to rely on plan B. Loki doesn’t like plan B, no one except him even knows there is one and plan B doesn not onvolve Loki getting out of here alive…

“ _Such brave words for a Liesmith who has failed our Master. Failure comes at a price, when He is done with you, you will beg for the comfort of mere pain.”_ It sneers, smiling wickedly.

Loki suddenly comes to the realization that the creature is speaking its own language and that the man next to him probably hasn’t understood a thing. He knows he can’t translate it to him because that would be suspicious and would suggest that he has an alliance with them, which is true but nobody wants the Chitauri to actually know this. He settles for answering in English because that would be a form of disrespect and mocking towards the Chitauri.

“Well, right now I’m not really begging for pain am I?” he scowls back and then he parades a bit waving with his hands and smiling. He’s trying to put a mask on, one of confidence while inside he’s screaming and panicking. The Chitauri warrior doesn’t answer and instead turns to Fury.

“You made a wise choice, _human_ , deliver us the trickster and we might even spare your pathetic city for today.” Before Nick Fury can answer Loki interferes.

_I have to buy time, how do I buy more time?_

“ _If it’s the Tesseract you still seek, I could bring it to you”_ this time he does speak in the language of that Chitauri scum. This wasn’t discussed back at Stark Tower and the director still doesn’t trust him if he hears what Loki’ll say next he might jeopardize the whole plan.

_“I know where it is, I’ll kill these pesky humans for you and bring the Tesseract to you, imagine the reward if you were the one to give the Tesseract to Him.”_

_XxXxXxXxXx_

_“You think you can manage to distract them long enough brother?” They’re sitting in the Heli-carrier and Thor keeps pestering Loki about the plan and Loki’s reached his breaking point._

_“DON’T call me brother, Thor!” He shouts wiping his head back angrily and glaring at Thor._

_“I’m not your brother and I don’t have time for this nonsense, you do your part I’ll take care of mine!” He rages and his face is red, Thor backs away and redirects his gaze to the floor, he’s well aware of the stares they’re getting from the other Avengers he knew this day would come the moment he realized Loki had lost his memories that doesn’t mean he’s prepared for it though. He cannot help but sigh._

_“If you could give me a moment alone with my brother?” He doesn’t have to look up because all of them know that he’s basically talking to anyone except Loki. They all leave in silence (yes even the Man of Iron has no comment) and soon the room is empty besides Thor and Loki, neither of them are looking each other in the eye._

_“I understand your anger, brother but-“_

_“DON’T call me brother? Are you so stupid that you cannot even understand a simple sentence, shall I rephrase it for you?” Now Loki is looking at Thor, he can feel his gaze on him and Thor looks up as well and meets his brother’s glare._

_“We may not be family by blood but you are still my brother Loki, you have to understand that!” Thor exclaims, he has never been good with words, he never knows how to phrase them properly because ever since he can remember, whenever he said something, anything Loki always found some kind of insult in it even if there was none._

_“You better leave, we’ll be there soon.” His tone is flat, emotionless and so is his face. He’s staring at Thor but it’s like Thor isn’t even there._

_Thor feels horrible, disappointment and even anger cloud in his mind and he feels hurt because his brother is turning away from him again and he can’t lose him, not again but even Thor as stubborn as he is can see the line. He’s reached the limit right now and he turns around and walks out of the room but before the doors close he can hear Loki say something to him. It’s whispered but Thor can hear it anyway._

_“You’re not my brother Thor but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”_

_XxXxXxXxXx_

The suspicious glare coming from the man who is now standing behind him as Loki has moves forward makes him nervous and the voices in his head are screaming that he’ll fail but he pushes them away, because he can’t fail. He can’t fail his brother not again, not ever.

He knows he can summon his knives anytime but he doesn’t because if he does a fight will break out and he need, _they_ need more time and he has to give them as much time as he can.

“ _Your lies will not work on us, Silvertongue.”_ But the answer comes too late and everyone (even Fury who doesn’t know what’s going on) has noticed. His comrades stop grinning and they’re closely studying the exchange now. Fury doesn’t say anything for even he can say that this is a crucial moment, one that he cannot disturb or the consequences would be dire.

“ _Well then if lies do not suffice how about some truth? Do you know how I came to be in this form?”_ distract them, telling them he truly has forgotten certain things might help him right now.

“ _I’m stuck with little to no recollection of what happened in the last few months.”_ He’s still smiling like he’s welcoming guests in his home and is asking them if they want something to drink.

 _“They call you the Liesmith but your lies are shallow and easily spotted, are you even trying?”_ The tension has not yet left but it’s lessened.

 _“Oh but I am telling the truth,”_ Loki sighs wearily like it saddens him that they do not believe him. “ _I seem to have forgotten a lot but not this: your Master desires the Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Stones but the Tesseract is not one of them, neither is it on earth anymore. What could you possibly want from earth no that it is no longer in the possession of the Tesseract?”_

The Chitauri warrior starts to laugh (or its weird version of a laugh is heard anyhow) and his comrades do the same.

“ _Two can play this game trickster,”_ but then he switches to his broken English once more  
“But you are wasting precious time, in a few minutes the city will be in ruins if we don’t return with the trickster.” It’s obviously directed at Fury.

“We brought you the Asgardian, release the city, earth does not want any trouble!” He speaks calmly but his eyes (or eye) show his determination.

The warrior ignores him and with a gesture that looks a lot like a shrug it turns its attention back to Loki.

 _“There’s no harm in telling a doomed man about a future he will not be part of.”_ It’s mocking him and Loki clenches his fists.

 _“He will get the Tesseract no matter what.”_ Now it’s laughing again, that weird noise coming from the back of his throat.

“ _Without any of the Gems in his possession Thanos cannot possibly believe he can get the Tesseract away from Asgard?”_

_“Your ignorance is almost endearing, what makes you think our Master does not own an Infinity Gem already?”_

Loki tries to hide his surprise and shock, if Thanos has one of the Gems already, it changes everything and suddenly he remembers the scepter again and dread fills his stomach but also relief, he know remembers what the scepter _is_ and he knows Thanos does not have it, the creature is bluffing. But the he remembers that if Thanos doesn’t have it, it must still be on earth. The Chitauri are not here for the Tesseract, it’s not here anymore but the scepter _is_. Loki doesn’t have time to ponder much longer however because then the time is up, the bombs should explode now, but if the plan has worked they won’t. The Chitauri have noticed too and they turn around expectantly, wanting to watch the Midgardian city fall.

It’s silent for a few agonizing seconds… And then one of the bombs explodes.

That means it’s time for plan B

Loki _hates_ plan B

**Ooh yes, a cliffhanger, flashback scenes from the actual plan might keep coming because I like it that way. For those who are wondering the reaction of Fury is normal because he’s a projection and can’t really do much and the Chitauri did not allow any reinforcements in a one mile radius from the city so no SHIELD agent can come to the rescue. (Luckily the Avengers aren’t really SHIELD agents are they?° I’d really like to know your opinion so please comment/review? I REALLY NEED SOME MOTIVATION RIGHT NOW and a big THANK you and shout out for all of you who have reviewed because each one of you have made my day and you’re the reason I’m still continuing this story! And no action scenes, I expected there to be some but no, they’re for next chapter and OMG 4k words again I’m starting to get the hang of this!**

**xxTheAlgea**

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> seidr is magic, sort off, you'll understand!  
> Also don't froget more than 5 reviews equals a preview of the next chapter!

Yes, I left you hanging there didn’t I. I had to think a LONG time over this and Loki’s power over the water (yes, this’ll happen in this chapter) is based on the fact that he had an affinity for it in Thor; tales of Asgard and that he is a Frost Giant so water would come naturally to him. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask them! Also I AM going to continue this fic because I fell in love with writing it, I can’t stop thinking about more plot bunnies and they keep popping up! I’m thinking of making this a trilogy but we’ll see about that.  
Thor’s gone and by whispering those words he just had Loki knows they’ll leave him be for some time, long enough, he hopes to prepare for plan B. There has to be something to fall back on because Loki doesn’t care that his brother trusts these mortals Loki’s learned to rely on himself and not on others too much so that’s exactly what he’ll do. If the mortals fail in deactivating the bombs the consequences are horrible. If even one of the bombs explodes and this explosion is not stopped it time, its power will reach the next bomb and deactivated or not, that bomb will explode to. The chain reaction will destroy the city and with it Loki’s chance of showing the Midgardians that he means no harm and it will make the Chitauri’s plan succeed. He doesn’t know what they’ve planned after the explosions but it can’t be good.   
The plan is simple in theory, he has studied the art of cloning himself for months now because it looked like a handy trick for some pranks but now he has to use them in a life-death situation and he dearly hopes it will work. He only has a one-second-window, he has installed a mini-virus into the computer of Stark (he heard that was the Iron Man’s name) that will disable the artificial intelligence program to monitor everything on the ship, including Loki, the computer won’t even be able to notice because it will be quick, the only thing Loki has to do is send the signal but at the same time he has to clone himself and teleport that clone in the close proximity of the mortal city Detroit.   
Glad that he has seen enough images and maps to know where the city lies and how it looks he knows that he can send his clone there, however keeping that clone hidden is something of a bit more complicated nature, he still has to be connected to it or it would fade away but this connection can’t be discovered, not by anyone so he has to cloak it.   
To explain this very simply: Loki has to send a signal to the virus in the computer system, has a second time to clone himself and teleport that clone to Detroit but has to cloak the connection with him and said clone at the same time. He also has to embodiment the clone so that it can actual do things and he has to be two persons at the same time. That can’t be too hard can it?  
XxXxXxXxXx  
The mission is blown and it’s all Thor’s fault. The thunder god had been so worried over the safety of his little brother that he had not been paying his full attention to this mission while this mission especially required his attentiveness. Stark had explained to him how to deactivate the bomb and it was simple, the Chitauri had weapons of mass destruction but these weapons weren’t too complicated because your average foot soldier of the Chitauri knows almost nothing except how to shoot a gun and die in battle.   
Thor had been too distracted hadn’t paid attention to his surroundings hadn’t even noticed when more Chitauri practically came raining down on him. Thor had been the last for his bomb had been placed the furthest so by the time he had started to deactivate the bomb all of his companions had already disabled theirs so the Chitauri had been able to concentrate on this last bomb, they had all known that if this bomb did not explode for them all would be lost so they had not been distracted at all.   
And Thor, Thor with all his strength, Thor the prince of Asgard was not defeated but he was stalled, long enough for it to be too late to deactivate the bomb and as he realizes this he braces himself for the explosion and thinks  
I have failed you brother  
And when the bomb goes off and Thor is blown away and he cannot hear anything anymore he suddenly feels like the heavens are crashing down on him and he can’t breathe anymore because there’s water everywhere!  
XxXxXxXxXx  
He must act quickly, with a simple vision spell he had been able to spy on all the action those Midgardian and his bro- no not his brother, just Thor had done. He had seen the red-haired woman take out the aliens with such ease that he would never ever doubt the strength of a woman again. He had seen the archer shoot his arrows swiftly and with no effort at all, he too had had no problems with taking out the aliens, they almost made it look like child’s play! The green monster the healer transformed in smashed his enemy’s heads with such ferocity that what had been left of the Chitauri had not been a pretty sight. The Man of iron had simple blasted away all of the Chitauri in a matter of seconds like they were nothing but insects that were there to trample and squash with your boot.   
But Thor, Thor had been distracted and Loki had seen this the moment the vision spell showed him the crown prince of Asgard and Loki had known that if the plan were to fail it would because of Thor so the clone had teleported close to where the bomb lay. He had not been able to even try and deactivate the thing because he couldn’t risk teleporting so close. And when the bomb exploded he had been prepared.  
Now he has to concentrate on the bomb and he lets his attention in his true body slip for a couple of seconds, lethal seconds he knows because his real body is about to be attacked the moment this bomb sets of and it does no damage but he can’t think about that because he has other things to worry about. This clone body is imperfect and its magic limited but it’s there and when he sees Thor almost being swallowed up by the explosion something snaps inside of him.   
He doesn’t know where this rush comes from, this wave of power, he can only guess it comes from the Tesseract energy within him, but that is of no importance right now so he focusses on his plan again. He’s always known he had some connection to water and upon discovering a river flows through this city he had immediately known what to do. He had immediately known his plan B. Has it already been mentioned that Loki really hates plan B?  
Loki calls upon the water, forces it to obey his will and the water does as it is bid. Loki knows that, while he’s directing the water to the city that this will only temper the explosion it won’t cancel it out and it will bring destruction too but it is a sacrifice necessary for this city to survives this ordeal, this power ‘boost’ will not last and that soon his magic will not suffice to hold an amount of water like this in his control he has to act as fast as possible for the casualties to be minimal.   
He moves the water in such a way that is like a barricade preventing the full force of the explosion to reach the other bombs it’s like a protective shell and he is glad that he only has to will the water to hold this form for a moment, long enough to protect the city. In the same breath that he holds to force the water to obey his will, he feels his magic is not enough and he can do nothing, he can only stand there and keep fueling the water with the magic he’s left when the body of the clone slowly fades away because its conjurer is being wounded and does not have the power to do this anymore.   
The consciousness slips from the clone and everything is black for a moment. Then Loki can feel his true body again and he can feel it being smashed against the ground with such force that the pain almost blinds him. His small, weak body is not made for any of this.  
XxXxXxXxXx  
Fury is not happy with any of this but apparently he has no say in the matter (he hates this as well). Stark has unmuted him and after a few seconds of raging Fury has calms down enough to listen to the plan. He has to because he has no other choice and he hates it that earth’s fate is going to be placed in the hands of the maniac who tried to conquer it in the first place  
The Chitauri have made it clear that if any military force is detected in a one mile radius from the heart of the city that they’ll blow Detroit up without hesitation. Fury’s part of the plan is simple, yet crucial, he has to be ‘present’ when ‘handing Loki over’ to those space bastards and it has to be convincing. He has to keep SHIELD agents as close as possible to the city without the Chitauri knowing and when the realization that the bombs have been disabled sets in he has to get his agents to that city as fast as humanly possible, normally it will only take a few seconds but those seconds would never have been more important.   
The moment the Chitauri realize they’ve been tricked they’ll send their whole armada in and earth has to be prepared for that, in the five hours that were given, Fury has mobilized the biggest army since World war II in a one mile radius of Detroit he just hopes it’ll be enough.  
XxXxXxXxXx  
Thor is drowning, he can’t move because somehow the water is perfectly still but he can still feel it moving and he has never been good with seidr but he is the son of Odin and Frigga, seidr is in his blood and he can feel his brother’s so close to him, a sense of familiarity but then realization sets in, Loki’s moving the water but that’s not possible from a distance like that, so there is only one logical explanation, Loki’s cloned himself, Thor remembers that Loki only showed that he had this ability when they were over 500 years but he now fully knows what a liar his brother is and that he knew how to produce duplicates way before that.   
Thor doesn’t even bother trying to move or swim to the surface because it’s like there is no surface, like there’s only water and he can’t move anyway. The seidr he feels is so strong but its presence fades away just as fast as it came. He knows it’s still there because it can’t just disappear like that but he can’t feel it anymore because it’s so weak now. He takes this opportunity to try and move and before he can try to figure out where the surface is the water just falls and Thor with it. All the magic is gone now and Thor wants to worry about his brother but he’s occupied at the moment, he’s busy drowning.  
Once the water has fallen Thor realizes it’s steady and he manages to find the surface and with a few might swings from Mjolnir he flies out of the water into the sky. The sky is dark and clouds have gathered in the few seconds he was under so much has happened, the war fleet from the Chitauri is coming down from space and Chitauri are swarming, people are screaming and there’s smoke coming from burning buildings.   
Thor looks around only for a moment and can see the destruction the gigantic wave of water has caused, building look like they’re going to collapse at any seconds and everywhere he can see Midgardians floating or swimming, screaming because they’re disoriented or have lost sight of someone they care about. Thor has no time to keep looking because the sound of shooting and battle can be heard plainly, from where he knows Loki is.  
Thor doesn’t think he’s ever flown this fast before, he flies over the road where Loki is and the sight that meets him, shocks him. From afar he can see the Midgardians coming as fast as they can (not very fast) and he can see air vessels approaching. But his gaze is fixed on the ground.   
Loki is slumped against one of the Chitauri and around them are bodies skittered everywhere, all of them Chitauri, Loki has indeed put up some fight but he had been outnumbered and his strength is nothing compared to that of the Chitauri so he must have had to rely on his tricks but those were not enough, as it would seem. There’s blood on his face, and not the black kind the Chitauri have flowing in their veins but red blood, his blood. His face is pale and Thor can see his hands are bloody, both his and Chitauri blood speckle his clothing and his armor, the breast plate is ripped and the edges are tarnished with blood, red blood, that is still oozing out of the wound, his leg is bent at an odd angle, one that the body (not even the one of a Frost Giant) does not allow its bones to bend.   
This is all registered by Thor in a split second and then he dives forward and smashes half of the Chitauri before they even realize he’s there, they fall like flies for him and Thor isn’t even hindered the slightest bit when he smashes into them. With one might swing from Mjolnir he crushes the alien holding his brother.   
He manages to catch his brother before he can fall to the ground and while laying him down there’s an enemy behind him charging at full speed he evades the attack swiftly, grabs the creature’s arm that was holding a spear (since its gun was rendered useless), breaks it easily and then hits him with Mjolnir in the chest, it’s blown away by the sheer force of it and it almost flies backwards, crashing into his comrades, it’s almost comical but Thor doesn’t have time to laugh, he turns back around and picks his brother up he doesn’t take another step though, because then a huge, blue, electric blast slams into him and sends him flying and the only thing Thor can do protect his brother is dropping him out of the reach of the blast only a split second before it hits him and then he can’t do anything anymore because the world turns black.  
XxXxXxXxXx  
He’s slowly drifting in and out of consciousness but he really just wants to stay unconscious because being awake means pain and fatigue. He can feel someone lifting him up, gently, in strong contrast with the Chitauri who dragged him along earlier, and he knows he can’t stay unconscious because he has things to do and if he doesn’t wake immediately he won’t like the outcome. (Not that he like this but there is no doubt on his mind that by blacking out he’ll only make it worse for he won’t have any means to defend himself).   
His eyes flutter open and the light fucking hurts but then he can feel magic resonating in the air, he can practically hear it and he knows what it is for some reason but he cannot warn the person who’s carrying him because it’s too late, the person has dropped him and is blasted away by the beam of magic coming undoubtedly coming from the Chitauri and for some reason he knows which one, the Other.   
He can see a flash of red, Thor! But then he falls and his body hits the pavement and he cannot see red anymore because he can see stars now. He’s landed on his bad leg and the excruciating pain consumes him. He’s tried healing magic but the stunt with the water has left him drained, he’s helpless, he can’t even properly open his eyes and he feels pitiful and he hates it. He hates plan B so much…  
The other talk so silently that the words seem incoherent at first but after blinking a few times and after he manages to get his breathing under control he understands them.  
“Little princeling, there’s no use in hiding behind these mortals, He will find you, you cannot hide from Him!” He’s talking in his own language and even though the All-tongue translates it, it still sounds wrong and Loki comes to the conclusion that this is not the Chitauri language but something older, he has never heard it before and the fact that the other is using it freely means one simple thing.   
He doesn’t except Loki to survive to tell the tale because Loki somehow knows that the Other almost never speaks his mother tongue. And it is unknown to him how he knows all of this but it feels like you know that if you let go of something it’ll drop, it’s just something you know.   
Loki can barely keep his eyes open, pain dulls his senses and his headache makes him want to claw his brains out with his bare hands but he tries to focus for it’s his life that hangs in the balance. He can see the other approaching with a Chitauri warrior at each side. With a small movement of his hand he commands them to take Loki and drag him to him where the portal to the ship awaits not far behind him. Loki can’t stop himself from crying out when they roughly grab him and he can suddenly feel the adrenaline kicking in, his magic is stirred and he knows it now or never. He conjures up small knives with all of his power, one he throws in the direction he knows the other must stand for he heard his voice coming from there, the other two he thrusts into his two carrier’s unprotected chins and now the fact that he’s so small actually works in his advantage.   
He can’t stand on his own however and he falls again to the ground, grunting when he connects with the unforgiving pavement once more he hopes against all hope that his knife has reached its target but when he hears the laughing, and he knows he’s failed.  
Yes, I’m ending it at that! I wanted to write more but I realized it would be too much for one chapter so I had to split it up again. This fighting thing is so hard I never thought it would be this difficult. I hope you liked it and please review/comment and make me very happy!


	8. Chapter 8

**I can’t believe this is chapter 8 already, this is the longest story I’ve ever done and I’m not planning on stopping any time soon! Thanks for those who have reviewed/commented I love you all! For those who haven’t yet: please do even if you don’t like the story, give me some advice to make it better! ;) The plot bunnies keep popping up I’m so happy about all of this! Flashbacks are done btw.**

**ABOUT THAT PREVIEW: THOSE WHO REVIEW CAN ASK FOR A PREVIEW (I WILL SEND IT TO THEM) WHEN THIS CHAPTER HAS MORE THAN 5 REVIEWS!**

Tony Stark gets there first, of course he’s the one with a super-powered suit and of course, it’s a suit of his own making, so the only thing you have to remember from all of this is that Tony Stark is amazing and his technology is even more so. His joy at being a genius is drained from him the moment he can actually see what’s going on. He had been casually destroying aliens attacking earth (this was just 1 warship he would handle this, easy as pie) when Fury had suddenly started screaming in his earpiece.

“Stark you’re the closest to Thor and Loki, you have to go to the meeting point now! There’s be-“ Fury doesn’t have the chance to even finish his rant because somehow the connection fails. Stark’s connection _never_ fails, that means something or someone must be interfering with it. Even though Stark wants to ponder upon that (who on earth… or beyond could do such a thing?), he can’t, he has to go to the meeting point, Fury might be annoying as hell he had sounded serious so _better check things out there_ , he remembers thinking. _Can’t be that bad._

So he might be wrong, just a little bit, it’s pretty bad. Thor is nowhere to be seen, there’s a lot of smoke however, very far from Stark’s current location. It doesn’t take a genius, playboy, philanthropist to guess where Thor is. Instead he redirects his gaze downwards where looks for Loki.

He spots Loki easily and immediately wishes he had been faster, Loki is lying on the ground, barely moving and the alien stands above him, it grabs the demi-god roughly, Tony can see the portal just behind the creature, this does not bode well, he has to do something and well although he is a strategist he also likes to blow things up that aren’t his for a change so that’s exactly what he does.

“Full power Jarvis, lock onto the target and make sure not to hit Loki!”

“Of course sir.” All the weapons in his armor are pointed at the target, Tony wants to wait for dramatic effect but he knows he can’t afford it right now so he skips to the shooting. There’s one thing Tony hasn’t counted on however, the seriously annoying enhanced hearing of this alien he’s trying to shoot, it seems to have known this attack would come all this time and simply moves out of the way of every missile with such precision it’s like he is able to predict where every one of them will land.

 

Tony might not have counted on it, he sure as hell had known it had been a possibility he hadn’t thought it possible what happened then however. Instead of letting the projectiles hit Loki, it draws a shield and protects the demi-god from the deadly missiles fired at him. Tony had ordered Jarvis not to hit Loki, and every one of those missiles would have missed Loki grandiosely. Tony doesn’t have time to hover dumbfounded because the alien doesn’t hesitate and fire at Tony as well.

Gigantic bright blue beams, coming from the staff it’s holding, they look quite deadly so Tony makes a mental note to find out its working as soon as his life isn’t endangered by it anymore. That might take a while. He evades them easily but then something happens he’s not prepared for, the creature _disappears_.

His sensors are overloading trying to find it but when they do Tony knows it’s too late, somehow it has managed to appear in his blind spot, the one spot his weapons cannot reach immediately. The blast hits him, full force and his system overloads, Tony Stark had to crash land and when he does so, it feels like felt when falling down from that portal in New York.

XxXxXxXxXx

Fury is watching everything and he has never felt so helpless and useless. Not even in the Battle of New York because even then he had had things to do, things to take care of. Now he can do nothing but watch as the demi-god who had ravaged their planet was beaten easily, how the thunder god was slammed into one of the tanks that were further away and how Stark practically crashed in on the road almost a mile away.

He has already beeped up Natasha and Clint but they are both far away from the meeting point and even the projector on that place had been destroyed he can’t even _talk_ to them, the communication is down. It failed the moment he had ordered Natasha and Clint to come to the battle so at least he knows help is coming.

He doesn’t like Loki, not at all, he would not cry over him if he died but he knows that if Loki falls into the hands of the enemy the result would be catastrophic for earth and everyone else. Fury does not particularly care about _everyone else_ but from what he had heard from Thor, there were Nine Realms for a reason. He almost sighs of relief when he sees Natasha coming from the right and Clint from the left.

This relief is short-lived however. They will never reach the alien that is called the Other in time, they’re very far away, too far for arrows he surely hopes Natasha still has some bullets in her guns. Luckily she does. The Other is just about to grab the demi-god for the second time that day but a bullet stops him mid-action. It ricochets off his gloves however but it does startle him.

 

 

He looks up in the direction of Natasha and that is his mistake, he doesn’t notice Clint who’s close enough now to fire an arrow, an exploding one preferably but when no arrow comes Fury narrows his eyes and looks in the direction of Hawkeye? He’s not _there_. Not two seconds ago he had seen him running there and now he’s just gone.

He tries all camera angles but he can’t find his agent and again Fury is reminded of the fact that he can do nothing but watch. And he hates it. Did he already mention that?

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki is very confused. The light still hurts and he hears shooting and fighting so close to him but he isn’t hit by anything and at some point he can feel the Other using magic, it envelops him, like a shield but he must be imagining that because why would the Other do that?

He can hear gunshots and he can hear people screaming but he has to focus on other things, he knows the other has been distracted, he can feel his magic returning to him, it feels good. He tries to direct it to his knee, which is obviously broken, his chest hurts and he can feel the blood loss making him dizzy but that’s a long-term problem, his knee is more practical right now, he can cope with the loss of blood later, if he survives this ordeal at all.

For some reason his magic is much stronger than he remembers and his knee heals remarkably fast even for an Aes-Frost Giant, Loki suddenly comes to the realization that he knows next to nothing about his anatomy but that are problems for later, he has to focus.

He manages but only _just_. His vision is not blurred anymore and he’s glad because it could have been a big hinder in his next step. The portal is just behind the Other he can only see one course of action he can take. So he does exactly that.

He knows he’s surprised the Other and he finds satisfaction in that. He has summoned a dagger in his left hand he knows what he had to do if this plan succeeds. He can’t fall into the hands of Thanos alive, he wouldn’t survive it, he knows this, like he knows the Other is not Chitauri, he knows that only suffering awaits him if he falls alive in that portal and then death. If he has to die it’ll be on his own terms and not screaming from torture and stripped from his dignity.

He charges without thinking and only now he can appreciate that, he’s starting to understand what Thor sees in this, charging head-first in battle, it’s exhilarating, he feels strangely _alive_ the blood loss doesn’t bother him anymore and the pain in his knee doesn’t either. It’s an annoying throbbing but he pays it no heed.

He collides with the Other with so much force that he can hear his _own fucking_ ribs cracking and he’s not even surprised when he doesn’t feel the usual pain accompanying an injury like this. Yes, he can definitely understand Thor better now, battle has never seemed very appealing to him because what fun is rolling around in the dirt and your own blood? But now he can’t feel the dirt or his blood or his injuries he feels the thrill of battle and he likes it. It roars in his ear and for a 300-year-old he has a lot of strength, he doesn’t know where it comes from but he has it now and he plans on using it to the full extent.

They’re falling now, into the portal and he can’t help himself but he feels panic, it grips his throat and for a moment he can’t breathe. He can’t stop his hands from trying to grab something, anything to stay alive, to not fall, self-preservation has always been his greatest flaw, he doesn’t want to die.

Because his hands are grabbing at nothing he lets go of the knife and it falls. The Other has fallen already and Loki loses grip on Midgard but then his hand actually grabs _something_ , he doesn’t even register _what but he grabs it anyway._

He holds on because it is his life that depends on it and even though whatever it is, it’s cutting in his hand and he can feel the blood dripping from his arms he doesn’t let go.

He can only slightly feel the pull, his hands clamp even tighter around the _rope,_ thinks, and he has to shut his eyes because the light _fucking_ hurts. His mind is clouded again by dizziness, wariness and pure exhaustion, he wants to know though, he wants to know who’s saved him from falling into the hands of Thanos, the light is too blinding to see anything properly but he tries anyway, his eyes manage to focus for a mere second. In that second Loki can see that what he’s holding is indeed a rope, it’s thin and it looks like fluid silver, it’s shining, reflecting the sun and Loki tries to see who’s holding the other side, he can’t. He drops his head and gives up, before he closes his eyes he can see the end of the rope, behind him, still a bit in the portal but he recognizes the thing hanging from it, it’s an arrow.

XxXxXxXxXx

It’s dead silent, there are eight people in one room and if a needle would drop, you would be able to hear it perfectly. The only sound heard is the uneven breathing of the child, lying on the bed. Nobody knows what to do next because none of them know anything of Frost Giant anatomy and they might get something wrong and do more damage than good and Thor has refused to take that risk.

It’s been only a few hours after the attack and neither Tony nor Thor have been properly cared for but neither of them care. Bruce looks miserable because he has offered his help, he might not be a real doctor but the knows a few things however Thor had declined his offer to help multiple times by now so Bruce has given up. He’s standing there awkwardly, like all of them are. Fury hasn’t even ranted about anything yet, he just stands there, his one eye narrowed in the direction of the little demi-god in the hospital bed.

They arrived on Stark Tower very soon because Loki had obviously needed help and they couldn’t risk bringing him to a normal hospital. Clint is leaning against the wall, face emotionless and with a look that suggests you better steer away from him for a long time. Natasha’s sitting on a chair, doing absolutely nothing and Tony is sipping from some alcoholic drink Bruce isn’t particularly interested in (does that even surprise anyone?).

The medical room is stuffed with equipment and after a long debate they had manages to convince Thor to put bandage around Loki’s chest wound with salve on it to make sure it wouldn’t infest, disinfectant has been applied to Loki’s face as well. There was nothing else they were allowed to do so they had eventually just given up. Bruce has no idea how long they stand there but he’s pretty sure it’s a long time because at some point he couldn’t feel his legs anymore.

There’s cough, then another and then there’s a fluttering of eyelids and four of them release a sigh they hadn’t even realizes they had been holding. Bruce hadn’t even noticed it himself, or maybe he had denied it but he had been worried about the little demi-god lying there. Somehow even though he hadn’t had many conversations with him, Loki had won him over, not fully but still.

The fluttering is slow and Bruce almost doesn’t see Clint and Fury leave when they do, he is surprised that Natasha has stayed but he doesn’t let his mind linger on it for any longer because now there’s more movement coming from the bed. Loki is trying to sit up and Bruce can see him grimacing from the pain before he gives up and falls back into the bed again.

He looks frustrated but most of all he looks in pain, which is only logical of course his wounds are serious and no real medical attention has been given to them because Thor won’t allow it. Bruce rushes forward together with Stark because they both know what they’re doing and Thor even backs away, he helps Stark move the cushions and the bed in such a way that Loki can sit upright without having to do it himself and so that he has something to lean on as well. Loki’s eyes are clearer now, more alert. Loki closes them again and breathes through his nose slowly.

“Give him some space, friends.” Thor’s voice is lowered to a volume Bruce doesn’t even know Thor’s capable of. He backs away and Loki relaxes. Small green sparks and golden ripples flow through his body and Bruce can’t help himself, he’s staring, he can see the blood that had slowly been more visible on the bandage fading and the color is returning to Loki’s face again, it stops however very soon and Loki starts to fall forward, Thor jumps forward and catches him just in time for he had almost fallen out of the bed. There’s still blood on the bandage and Loki’s still not looking very healthy but he looks a lot better than before and for that Bruce is glad.

“We should let him rest,” Bruce forces himself to say when he sees Thor gently laying his brother down with a look of hurt in his eyes. He looks so distressed and confused and angry all at the same time and he obviously wants to stay with his brother but rest is the only thing Loki needs right now so Bruce wants to make sure he gets exactly that.

Thor nods slowly, Tony leaves first, yelling (what did you expect?) about treating everyone with a drink that would blow their minds. Steve follows though everyone knows it’s not for that drink since he can’t even get drunk and Natasha after him. Bruce expects Thor to make a fuss but the Asgardian’s shoulders just slump and he strokes his brother forehead gently as not to wake him. Then the Thunder God walks out of the medical room at a brisk pace as if he can’t stand to be there any longer, Bruce follows and turns off the light. Loki deserves some rest.

XxXxXxXxXx

Dead bodies lie scattered across the floor, their limbs bent in unnatural ways, blood drips of the wall and even now, screams can be heard, the sound bounces off the walls and the wind carries them over the whole barren planet.

Smoke rises from what was once the face of a Chitauri warrior, there is no head anymore just a gap, black and burned and He hasn’t even begun yet, the Other stands far away and watches his Master maim his followers until they’re nothing but rotting corpses on the floor. Their stench makes even the other uncomfortable, some are still alive twitching and shaking, most of them do not even have lips anymore to cry, their faces are like molten wax and black blood makes the ground slippery. This is the wrath of the Mad Titan, this is what happens to the lucky ones that fail him, the whole squadron that had returned from earth alive lays here now, husks of what they once were, sacrificed the Lady Death.

The Other has not been punished yet but he knows it will come, he does not fear his Master’s wrath for selfish reason such as his own suffering but because if his Master kills him he cannot serve him anymore, he has to find a way to please Him, to soothe his anger, the Other will become a sacrifice, a gift to her, he knows this and embraces it but he will not be one today.

The Trickster has not been retrieved, the only thing besides the Tesseract He desired and they have failed to even bring him that. The Other barely hears one of the Chitauri enter but he does hear what it has to say, it’s frightened and once it has finished the other knows that his master will be pleases, enough to spare his unworthy servant who had failed him.

He brings the news to Him, once He has finished burning another Chitauri warrior, its screams echo in the cave and the messenger cringes and whimpers, stepping back even though that if his Master wants to he can take one step and crush the unworthy servant. It opens its mouth to speak, voice shaking like the rest of his body.

“The scepter is still on Midgard, Master, and we know its location.”

**Wouldn’t you like to know what they’re gonna do with the scepter? It’s not a big cliffhanger I think, compared to the others, the next one isn’t so bad either I promise. Can’t make promises for the chapter after that one hehehe.**

**XxTheAlgea**


	9. Chapter 9

**From here on it’s going to move faster because yes at first it was a bit slow: p hope you like it, please review/comment and a thousand hugs and kisses to the people who have reviewed/commented you made this fic possible** **J**

_“I could have done it father for you for all of us”_

_There’s only darkness, and falling. How long has he been falling, he doesn’t remember why is he falling, words and meaningless images keep flashing in front of his eyes but he can’t really see or hear them. He knows they’re there. And he knows he’s falling_

_“So, I'm no more than another stolen relic? Locked up, here, until you might have use of me!”_

_He can feel the ghost of a hand holding his own, the hand lets go, why did that hand let go?_

_He’s not falling anymore but he hasn’t hit a surface, he’s standing on nothing but at the same time he’s not standing at all. Everything is so dark, it’s too dark his eyes hurt and his head feels like it is going to explode._

_They’re looking at him he can feel their gazes but they are hidden he wants to scream, demand to know where he is, why isn’t he dead?_

_There’s no one who asks him but he answers anyway, is he losing his mind? Is he hearing voices? They are not words he hears, they are thoughts._

_“I am Loki of Asgard,” is that his voice? He doesn’t want to say more but he does as if driven by an unknown force, he keeps talking but he doesn’t know what he’s saying, he’s not him anymore it’s like he’s outside of his own body, the feeling he has when he makes a clone of himself however he has no control whatsoever over anything._

_He can feel the power, the pressure radiating around him and finally he can control his own actions again, he slowly moves each muscles and for once he’s happy when they scream in protest. He licks his lips and his mouth curves into a smile, he has his voice back. His voice is all he needs._

_“I will get you what you desire…” he doesn’t have to see for himself for he knows he’s schooling his expression to be genuine._

_“… For a price.”_

_He is the father of lies after all_

XxXxXxXxXx

“I know what they want.”

Bruce almost jumps out of his skin and the chair tips over. He falls ungracefully on the ground, legs flailing. Bruce looks up, rubbing his head, at Loki with surprise obvious on his face. He must have fallen asleep.

“Me too,” Bruce answers indignant, he fell of his chair for this. “You and the Tesseract both of which we’re not giving him.”

Loki’s head turns around to look at Bruce, eyes widening in surprise.

“What are you-“Loki shakes his head as if to say _Mortals_

“He’s not looking for the Tesseract,” Bruce picks up the chair and shakes his head.

“If it’s not the Tesseract or you he’s looking for, then what is?”  _Loki probably hit his head a bit too hard; he’s not even trying to make sense._

“He’s looking for the scepter.” Loki swings his legs off the bed. Bruce doesn’t let him,

“Wooh, there big guy, you’re not well enough to start running around the tower yet.” He pushes Loki back into the bed as gently as he can with Loki resisting.

“Unhand me; I don’t have time for this I need to speak with the leader of your realm.” He tries to swat away Bruce’s hands.

“Wait a second there Loki, explain it to me first and then we’ll go to Fury okay?” Only now has the meaning of Loki’s words actually sunk in.

“He’s looking for the scepter, your scepter?” Loki glares at him because he can’t get up, Bruce’s hands are still pushing him back.

“Yes, unless you know of some other scepter?” The sarcasm drips from his voice and he stops resisting.

“We don’t have time for this, healer Bruce if we do not hurry we might be too late!” Bruce has backed off from Loki to give him some space, wrong move, he sees the green spark when it is already too late, Loki let’s go of the energy he’s gathered and Bruce is blasted away against a wall. He can vaguely hear Loki apologize and when his vision clears Loki’s gone.

XxXxXxXxXx

“You cheated!” Thor is glaring at the game of battleships he only has one left and Stark still has all of his. He doesn’t like these Midgardian games at all and this has nothing to do with the fact that he has lost every single one of them.

“It cannot be that your ship has not passed the spot I have been repeating the last few minutes!” Tony frowns

“Wait you’ve been moving your ships?”

“Of course I have! Ships sail do they not? Are Midgardian ships different?” Tony stares and on the couch not far from them Clint is laughing his ass off. Since the battle in Detroit he has been much more relaxed, still a bit tense but not downright grumpy like he had been before, it’s as if he’s trying to make up for now that Loki is in de medical room and he hasn’t seen him since the battle.

Fury’s gone back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, he had hurried away, there had been mass chaos and a good cover story was needed. From what Clint knows, he hasn’t asked about Loki’s…particular condition yet but Clint’s very certain the question will come.

“I don’t think you understand the game that well Thor.” Tony says grinning. They are interrupted by Loki practically running in the room with a night apron.

“Brother!” Thor jumps and grabs his little brother, hugging him and smiling like an idiot.

“I’m happy you’re awake, brother!” Loki slaps his brothers back and is unsuccessfully trying to get away.

“Let me go you idiot I can’t breathe!” He’s beginning to look red by now.

Tony can’t stop grinning and his grin just widens when he sees Bruce, leaning against the doorframe out of breath. Thor has finally stopped crushing his brother, he’s still holding him however. Loki glares at Thor before he notices who else is in the room, Hawkeye.

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve is jogging (duh), not in central Park since it’s still being rebuilt but on the streets. He passes by some other joggers who all look at him in awe when he jogs by but Steve tries to ignore them. The city is bristling with life, like there hasn’t been an explosion not 5 days prior, like there hasn’t been en attack from outer space a few months ago. It never ceases to amaze Steve how easily the people of New York seem to bounce back into their normal everyday lives no matter what tragedy has struck.

He’s just jogging but it seems as if jogging is just asking for trouble because his phone starts to beep and when he doesn’t answer it just beeps louder, it’s a phone made by Stark, of course it has an attitude.

“Steve Rogers,” He sighs, he just wants to run a few miles why does the universe hate him for that?

He’s running as fast as he can to Stark tower, yes the universe does hate it when he’s jogging.

XxXxXxXxXx

“Black Widow do you copy?”

“Yes”

The place is abandoned and dusty she had been the one closest to the warehouse so she has arrived first, it would be at least 15 minutes before the Avengers got here. Natasha creeps further, silent and alert to any noise but she has already investigated three quarters of this place and she hasn’t encountered any enemies yet.

“The base is underground you have to get to the scepter by any means necessary.”

She doesn’t reply, she had been planning to do just that already anyway, she scans the area again if the base is underground how is she supposed to get there as fast as possible? She can blow the floor up but there’s no telling what’s down there, if there gas right underneath her feet it would be like signing her own death warrant. Natasha presses at the earpiece and the infrared scanner covers her left eye immediately. She looks down, there are people everywhere but a closer examination makes her correct that statement, there are a lot of people but they’re not all human.

A sudden noise makes her look up, footsteps from down the hallway, the machines gathered in this storage are enough she climbs them with ease and flings her body on the ceiling and sticks there thanks to Stark’s new and improved suit with magnetic fibers.

Two men come in, no one man and some other creature she knows this for the heat signature isn’t right, it’s deformed and it shimmers like a projection that’s not working properly. The two are talking she strains her ears to hear what they’re saying.

“And so far there have been no problems?” it’s the deformed creature that speaks, without the infrared scanner she would never have been able to guess he wasn’t human.

“SHIELD doesn’t know anything, we’ve made sure of that, the investigation is going well. I still don’t understand sir, why are you here? There is no reason to worry I assure you we have everything under control!” 

The man speaking has a lab coat on and glasses that look like they weigh at least a pound, he’s constantly moving it up because it keeps sliding down his nose and in his right hand he holds a clipboard. He looks nervous and even from so high up Natasha can see the sweat on his brow.

“With everything that happened in Detroit he just wants to make sure everything’s moving according to plan, doctor.” The answer is clipped, annoyance clear in the voice. The creature posing as a man fastens his pace and the doctor can barely keep up.

“This way please,” he says, he quickly steps to the other side of the room and pushes a few buttons at a control panel, steam comes out of it and it moves aside with a creaking noise.

Once they’re both gone the control panel moves back to its original place. Neither of them notice her slipping inside with them, they’re too busy talking, well the doctor is, the other guy just occasionally grunts in annoyance.

XxXxXxXxXx

“It’s here alright,” Tony says looking up from his tracking device;

“Spiderwoman activated the tracer inside the building.” They’re standing outside the warehouse in the dessert. Inside the jet, Bruce is looking at the cameras installed in their clothing.

“Stark’s right, it’s here the base is underground.” All of them can hear him. They all have an earpiece except for Loki and Thor. Thor because he says he can hear Bruce just fine without it and Loki because he’s standing next to Bruce in the jet. They had all agreed (except for Loki) that Loki could not fight because of two very obvious reasons: one, the Chitauri were after him, letting him enter would be like presenting him on a silver platter and secondly because Loki is still not healed yet and is still wearing his night apron.

“They’re here.” He says, looking through the window of the jet. “And so is the scepter.” He’s staring in a direction Tony can only guess, where the scepter is.

“So we just march in and take the scepter, yes?” Thor’s swinging Mjolnir and he looks happy at the thought of a battle.

“Of course not, we have orders we can’t just march in if we want to know who’s behind this all we have to be subtle.” Tony doesn’t have to look up to know it’s Steve. He looks at the scanner again.

“Hey, guys?” He mumbles. Clint interrupts but says what Tony had wanted to say anyway.

“Stealth isn’t an option anymore, they _are_ here and they have the scepter.”

XxXxXxXxXx

She doesn’t know how they know but they do. She passes them in disguise yet some of them glance up at her when she does. It’s only the ones she knows are not human that do but they don’t react when they look up, they keep working. She’s wearing a lab coat from a hanger in the hallway and glasses that are actually infrared scanners, her hair is tied in a bun and in her hands she holds a clipboard much alike the doctor’s. She blends in perfectly and the real humans don’t notice her.

Her cover might be blown to fool the Chitauri but she’s still tricking the humans and since the Chitauri don’t attack her or reveal her true identity she ignores them and pretends she doesn’t notice. Her glasses show her that the Avengers have arrived, she’s almost reached the room with the scepter in, it’s the room her glasses have difficulty with to project, if the scepter is anywhere in this building it’s there. She moves her hand to her mouth to pretend she’s coughing and to tell Clint to stand back, she’s got this when the infrared scanner on her glasses show her what’s happening in the room with the scepter in.

Loud noises come from the room and soon gun shots are heard. She doesn’t have time to react because then the Chitauri drop their disguises and attack her.

They move to her like one big creature, Natasha dodges them easily, shooting with her guns the whole time.

“Cover’s blown!” she yells to Clint via the microphone in her suit. One of the Chitauri tries to punch her but she ducks, grabs his arm and uses his body to open the door that is certain to be blocked. It was anyway, its body crashes into the doors and skids a few feet further in the room.

She’s still shooting but she stops when she sees the scepter, in the hands of that disgusting alien she had seen in Detroit and he smiles at her.

“They have the scepter.”

“ _Warning your pathetic mortal friends, female?”_ The words are foreign, it’s an accent she’s never heard but it talks more clearly than his minions do. He’s covered with armor and with the blue glowing staff in his hand he looks sinister. He makes a simple gesture with his hands and two of his minion start shooting at her.

Natasha ducks throwing herself to the ground and killing the enemy at her right. She rolls over the ground and with one swing of her leg, knocks the creature’s legs from under him and shoots that one too. The ground starts to shake and all the machines hanging from the wall start beeping an alarm is blearing and more Chitauri warriors fill the room. The ceiling collapses and she can see the Chitauri leader use the distraction to slip out of the room while his soldiers are crushed under the weight of both the ceiling and the Thunder god standing on it.

XxXxXxXxXx

Clint dives after Thor, one quick glance at Natasha who’s still shooting the Chitauri tells him she can handle herself. Thor is swinging his hammer and laughing all the while, like a child on a swing. He doesn’t wait until the other get there though, he’s seen one of those aliens slip away, with the scepter in his hand.

He runs after it, shooting every Chitauri warrior that stands in his way. There are humans too with guns but he tackles them or knocks them unconscious very easily. They’re much more fragile than the Chitauri are and it’s almost too easy to overpower them.

He makes sure he doesn’t lose sight of the scepter but with all the twists and turns in this place it’s harder than you’d think. His bow is more of a nuisance than it is useful right now but he still doesn’t let go. The alien he’s chasing barks something at his soldiers, they start shooting the ceiling. Clint knows what they’re doing and he’s shooting almost all of his arrows at them but it doesn’t stop them, they keep shooting and by the time he gets there, part of the ceiling just collapses he has to jump out of the way to avoid being squashed, some of the Chitauri who had been shooting are not as lucky and are crushed under the rock.

Clint doesn’t hesitate he takes an exploding arrow and fires. He doesn’t wait until the smoke clears he runs through the hole he’s made and keeps running. He runs as fast as he can, there are no Chitauri warriors blocking his path anymore, they must not have though he could get through, but he’s still not fast enough when he gets outside he can see the alien with the scepter enter a space ship. He fires the rest of his arrows but it is in vain, the moment the ships takes flight is the moment it blends in with the background and just disappears.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki hates it that he’s just standing there doing nothing while the other might already have the scepter and get away with it. He doesn’t understand what Thanos is planning to do with it yet, he knows Thanos was the one who gave it to him in the first place, if he had why make so much effort to get it back? However if the scepter hold what Loki suspects it does he can already guess and if he’s right no good can come from it.

He hears the distinct sound of something exploding and knows it must be Thor. The healer is pressing a lot of buttons and keeps talking to the director Fury but Loki doesn’t pay attention to what he’s saying. It’s awfully silent for a few seconds, a new explosion shakes the ground.

 _It’s the Other_ Loki realizes, and when he sees the blue glowing light coming from the object the alien holds his eyes widen _and he has the scepter_.

Loki immediately runs to the exit of this flying device but when he tries to open it it’s locked. He doesn’t think about the consequences he just blasts the door open with all the magic he has left inside of him but it’s weak and the door is only partly destroyed, there’s a hole but it’s not big enough to get through. He calls upon his magic once more but then he sees the other boarding his ship and by the time Loki’s managed to collect enough magic the ship’s already disappeared and the scepter with it.

But he’s seen the scepter, he had remembered the scepter but not what it was, he had remembered the concept, using it but not he hadn’t realized what it was back then. Now he does, the power radiating from it is different now, there’s more, it’s bigger. There is no doubt about it, _it is the Mind Gem, with more power but not quite enough._ And Loki knows why Thanos wants him so badly. _It needs another boost before it can take over the mind of an Aesir, it needs the Tesseract, or when the Tesseract is not around, a piece of its power will suffice._

**I had to think long and hard about the plot, how I was going to make this all seem logical. I’ll try to explain: Thanos somehow made Loki believe that the scepter was not the Mind gem when he attacked earth. The Mind gem had not enough power to take the mind of an Aesir but it did have enough power to control a few mortals. The Tesseract could power the Mind Gem up enough to control the mind of one of the Aesir. So basically the only thing Thanos need now is the energy inside Loki to get what he wants.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I read somewhere on Wikipedia that the Chitauri are shape shifters in the comics, I kinda went with that in the last chapter! I’m trying to make chapters longer but I enjoy a good cliffhanger so most of the time I work towards the cliffhanger and when I get there I stop and begin a new chapter** **J** **Thank you all for reviewing/commenting it keeps me writing!**

“So we gonna draw straws on who’s gonna start explaining what happened first?”

Loki’s not listening, Thor looks confused, Steve’s staring at Thor, Natasha at Clint and Clint looks like he’s not in the mood for Tony’s humor, which is ridiculous of course, Tony’s humor is the best there is and you can’t not be in the mood for it. Tony sips from a whiskey (one he thinks he deserves thank you very much) and leans on the counter he had leaned upon a few months back when Loki was still a psycho with an alien army at his back.

Tony doesn’t know about the psycho-thing anymore but he’s pretty sure the aliens Loki brought don’t have his back anymore.

“Jarvis how’s it going with or one-eyed-not-friend?” At least Jarvis answers when Tony says something to him.

“Mister Fury will be here in 10 minutes, sir.” The AI replies.

“So, Thunder guy, you wanna start? Things have been a little hectic lately but you still have some explaining to do.” Tony doesn’t like awkward silences. Both Natasha and Clint look up, they too want an explanation. Loki’s still not listening or he’s pretending. Bruce who’s been standing at the sidelines till now looks up too.

Thor nods but he doesn’t look happy about it.

“We did not manage to find out how the accident happened or what triggered it.” Loki looks up for a moment like he’s heard what Thor’s said but he’s not looking at Thor. Tony doesn’t know if he’s listening or not but he has a feeling he is.

“But the realm has not forgotten Loki’s crimes,” Thor looks ashamed and he bows his head,

“The All-father has called on the Council, the decision lies in their hands.” Tony needs another drink.

“Wait, what?” Steve looks around and seems relieved when sees everyone else has the same expressions on their faces as him, confusion.

“Yeah, “Tony chimes in, “You might want to elaborate on that one princess?” It’s not Thor who answers though.

“The Council of the Realms, the All-father has decided that my crimes, whatever they are, have affected three realms or more  as a result he is forced to call upon representatives of each realm to come to a decision about my fate. A Council meeting like this, it takes weeks to prepare.” His voice is quiet, his hands are fidgeting with a piece of paper and he looks distracted. Tony can see that he’s not here with them for the full hundred percent.

“So some representative of earth is gonna decide what’s going to happen to you?” Tony doesn’t like the idea. What if they want Fury? Tony really doesn’t like the idea of Fury representing every human being on earth.

“Midgard will be asked last, I assume your direct connection with the Bifrost makes it easier to summon you.” Loki shrugs.

Tony still doesn’t really understand one look around and he can see none of them do.

That awkward silence reigns over them again and Tony doesn’t know how to break it this time, his head is still reeling, Chitauri warrior attacking earth again and now their former enemy turned into a child and also some kind of Council with the gods on the agenda, it’s all a bit much even for a genius. A sudden movement catches his eye (which was previously staring at his now empty glass); Loki turns around sharply to look at Clint. Barton looks him in the eye and the awkward silence takes a new level of awkward.

“You were the one who shot that arrow, who pulled me back.” It’s a statement and from the looks of it Loki had been itching to get it out.

“Why? You hate me, I am very certain that you want me dead, your threats made that very clear, so why?” He stands up and when Clint moves (to cross his arms) Thor jumps and stands before Loki, like he thinks Clint’s going to attack him, a few days after saving him.

“Whatever that Thanos guy wants from you I bet it’s not good for earth.” He says, voice monotone, face a mask. “I don’t believe you but I’m not sacrificing millions because I don’t like you.”

Loki tilts his head and then he laughs. He actually laughs, like Clint has just told him something unbelievably funny and for a moment Tony can see the madman again. The psycho who attacked earth but then that moment’s gone because he realizes it’s just a bitter laugh, it’s strained and forced. Yes Tony will get that drink now. He moves to the fridge while listening to the conversation if you can call it that. Everyone is exhausted and the conversation is terribly tense and no one’s in the mood for this.

From the corner of his eye Tony can see Loki shake his head and he steps from behind Thor, placing a hand on his brother’s side as if to reassure him.

“And you didn’t ask yourself the obvious question yet? Thanos wants me so alive so badly! Don’t deny you have thought of it, the easiest way would be to kill me.” Loki steps to the middle of the room, away from the protection of Thor and turns in a circle looking at all of them.

Thor looks shocked that his brother even suggests such a thing but no one else moves or reacts. Their faces and their reactions (or the lack thereof) say enough. They _have_ , all of them including Captain America stay silent and their silence alone is confirmation enough.

Tony has decided he’ll take a double.

XxXxXxXxXx

To be honest, Clint’s not entirely sure himself why he did it. He doesn’t really know what overcame him when he shot that lifeline to Loki. Clint isn’t a hero, he’s not some do-gooder, he’s a killer it’s really that simple so why did he save Loki? When he answers that question to Loki he doesn’t know whether he’s telling the truth because the truth is that he has no clue.

When Loki drops the bomb (and points out the elephant in the room too while he’s at it) Clint’s not surprised because that’s exactly what he had thought and if the roles were reversed he would’ve thought about it just as quickly as Loki had. The silence stretches on but not for long because the same guy who caused it breaks it.

Loki smiles but it’s a sad smile, one that makes this young body look like the adult they had encountered a few months back. It’s a weird sight on the face of a twelve-year-old.

“Don’t be ashamed of it, friends of Thor, it was my first thought too.” Again no reaction and Loki continues.

“But perhaps I need to explain why Thanos wants me alive in the first place? He wanted the scepter,” his eyes flicker to Clint for a second before he goes on, “because inside was the Mind Gem.” This only gets a reaction from Thor and Steve because all the others just stare at him blankly.

Steve looks like he’s about put his finger in the air like he’s a student sitting in a classroom asking the teacher a question but manages to not put his finger in the air at the last moment because that would have been ridiculous.

“You told me about that a few days back, right? Something to do with Infinity Glove or something like that?”

Loki doesn’t answer but Thor does. It’s almost like they’re tuned in to each other like they complete one another. For a moment Clint sees two brothers who’ve been living together for a very long time and know each other inside and out but then he’s reminded again that this is Loki and Thor and he are not brother anymore, not really.

“The Infinity Gauntlet, tis inside the All-father Treasure Chamber. Thanos once wielded the Infinity Gems brought together by the Gauntlet but they were destroyed or shattered, how did Thanos get a hold on the Mind Gem?” He looks at Loki as if expecting an explanation but Loki just shrugs and shakes his head.

“I do not know, what I do know is that the Gem has not enough power to take over anything stronger than a mortal, no offence to you,” he gestures to all of them.

“Your minds are weaker,” his eyes flicker at Clint again this time a little longer. Clint doesn’t feel offended or anything he had figured already anyway. With demi-gods and ice Giants apparently running around it was to be expected that they were weaker.

“But the Tesseract could give the Mind gem power, enough to control all the mortals or a few Aesir. However he can’t get to the Tesseract, he can get to me, whatever happened when we were experimenting on it, I took a bit of the Tesseract’s power with me.”

Tony who’s still drinking (how many glasses does that even make?) nods.

“The Chitauri said something like that when we Skyped”  

Loki nods, Clint’s pretty sure Loki has no idea what Skype is but Loki doesn’t seem to think it necessary to point this out and he resumes. “Indeed, and I take you can all guess why he wants me then?”

“So with the power you took from the Tesseract inside you he can power up this Mind gem to control some of you gods what is he planning? What’s the point in all this, controlling some gods won’t do anything major right? I mean if it’s only a few?” Tony puts his glass down and looks at both Thor and Loki.

“I do not know what he plans to do next but his endgame is not hard to guess…” Again none of them have a clue expect Thor.

“He wants to destroy everything, like he wanted thousands of years ago.” Thor says, he still doesn’t look like he believes what he’s saying’s true.

“Woh there big guy, I’m not following this I think, he wants to destroy _everything_ what’s up with that?”

Loki swirls around, and looks at tony, Clint can’t see the look on his face but his voice tells him everything. It’s disbelieve, like he can’t understand that Tony still doesn’t get it.

“He’s the mad titan,” Loki explains, he sounds like a snobby kid who thinks he knows better than you even though he doesn’t. Well in this case Loki does know better but that’s not the point.

“He can’t die and for some reason he developed a fascination over Death, he courts her, believes that because he cannot die he should give her gifts in return.”

Roger’s eyes widen when realization strikes, Clint’s already figured it out and he knows Natasha has as well, both keep their faces blank and emotions in check, like they’re trained to do.

“The gifts are _dead people?_ ”

XxXxXxXxXx

Nicholas Joseph Fury does not like the way things are going. He’s been in Stark tower for like 10 minutes and the only things he’s heard till now are that there’s gonna be some major Council happening of which he had not been informed at all and he has no clue how it will go or how the representative of earth is going to be chosen or when this major god event is going to happen.

Then he hears that there’s some crazy titan who wants the de-aged psycho god manic who tried to take over earth a few months ago, alive to power up some crazy stone that controls people and then said mad titan wants to obliterate the world destroy and kill everyone and everything because he has some unhealthy obsession over _Death_ and instead of buying her flowers he gives her some dead people. Yes, he certainly does not like the way things are going right now.

Also they can’t kill the de-aged demi-god the previously mentioned mad titan wants to badly because the Tesseract energy is unstable and if they kill Loki or mortally wound him, it could affect said energy, blow up in their faces, or, once freed from the prison that is Loki’s body could turn into raw energy and materialize. Meaning it could turn into a gem itself or perhaps even fly to Thanos or something. Short version: killing Loki is not an option. (But Fury’s pretty sure Thor wouldn’t allow it anyway even if it was an option)

On top of all the previous stated problems there was something in the back of his head, something bothering him. The warehouse the scepter was found had been owned by a criminal organization that smuggles Chitauri technology to potential buyers. Now there are more organization like that after the battle of New York, the black market must’ve blown up with all the illegal and also very dangerous weapons suddenly found everywhere in New York City. The list of buyers had been odd though.

Some science project to do with insects, a company that had ties indirectly with the technology business of Cybertek and all kinds of other fishy stuff. The report of agent Romanoff also had been worrying. The idea that these people had manages to keep a facility like this hidden from SHIELD (not specifically from SHIELD) makes matters all the more troubling. The thoughts of this particular issue are erased from his mind however when he steps in Starks living room and hears the conversation.

“Something’s not right, shouldn’t your eh father know of this? Isn’t he like the king of everything so he should know about this Thanos guy right? Why not just stop him with his army and be done with it?” It’s doctor Banner, they’ve just told Fury about everything in a nutshell and there are still a lot of questions going unanswered.

“Thanos is hidden even from Heimdall.” Fury doesn’t know much about this god crap but he’s read some of those Norse mythology stories it seems ridiculous but really what other option is there? It’s not like they can call Thor over for a visit and some extra explaining about the entire universe. He’s heard the name Heimdall before, some guy who can see everything, literally like _everything_ , if you can hide yourself from a guy who sees all you must be quite the enemy. Fury doesn’t like it, obviously.

“He is in the Void,” Loki’s looking down at the paper in his hands like it holds all the answers, evidently it does not. Fury wishes it does though.

“No one can see there for there should be nothing.”

“How do we take a mind controlling alien in space out?” agent Romanoff leans back against the table.

No one answers because no one knows, Fury’s not done yet though.

“Apart from the crazy alien who wants to kill everybody, what else have you been keeping from me?” He glares at agent Barton and Romanoff because they are his agents they should have kept him updated on all of this.

“Because yes I did get a message from you, agent Romanoff that Loki’s on earth, you didn’t bother with the details however, like he’s a kid and he had energy from a stone with infinite fucking power? Or maybe that there’s some Council going to happen and we have no idea what to expect?” He slams his first down on the table to make sure everyone gets his point. The last few days had been hectic, so much to fix and many excuses to make up for the public announcements he hadn’t had time to properly yell at his agents for all of this, it actually feel kind a good.

“With all due respect, sir I expected Thor to come back sooner and fix all of this all of this is news to me too.” Romanoff crosses her arms and Fury can swear he sees Barton grinfor a split second before his face is emotionless again.

“Look we don’t have time for you whining about some communication mistakes Mad-Eye Moody we’ve got some bigger things to worry about like the end of the world for instance.”

Fury hasn’t even opened his mouth yet when Rogers cuts him off.

“I hate to admit it sir but Stark’s right we’ve got bigger problems.”

“No you do not.” They all look at Thor, even Loki who’s been trying to stick to the sidelines and had been staring at the piece of paper in his hands.

“This is not your problem, friends, I do not wish to burden you with it, we will go back to Asgard and inform the All-father of this threat, he will deal with it, Asgard will deal with it.”

Fury wants to object to that because hell, the end of literally everything is kinda their problem too but again someone’s faster than he is.

“You told me I could not return to Asgard for it is not safe.” Loki has let go of the little piece of paper and stands looking up at his brother. Or not-brother… It’s all too confusing right now why can’t things be less confusing and complicated?

“I will protect you brother but you cannot stay here, you will only endanger the mortals, Asgard shall have to deal with it after the threat of Thanos is dealt with.”

“Excuse me but I think the end of the world IS our problem and I want to make-“

“We will leave immediately!”

“-Now listen to me, earth owes you a lot but you cannot-“

Thor isn’t listening, Fury is talking for Christ’s sake, and it’s not to the wall it isn’t.

“Thor think about this first, we nee-“ all of them are ignored, Thor just grabs Loki and practically drags him out of the room, to the rooftop.

“Wait! My roof!” Stark yells and he scrambles behind them, just like the rest of them do.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki doesn’t resist as Thor grabs him by the arm and roughly guides him to the rooftop, Loki actually wants to go back because he has missed Asgard a lot, he’s missed mother but Loki’s worried to. His crimes against Midgard, against Jotunheim, hell even against Asgard they had been severe and horrible, the Asgardians are not known for their forgiving nature and Thor had told him Asgard wasn’t safe. Midgard isn’t much better but here he knows what to expect, in Asgard even though it’s his home _no, no it’s not it never has been_ He shakes his head _not now there’s no time for this_ , Asgard is unknown territory right now two thousand years have passed, a lot can happen in such an amount of time. 

He stumbles after Thor the best he can, he can hear Thor’s friends running behind them and then they’re at the rooftop, faster than Loki had expected.

Thor looks up to the sky, at some point in their conversation it had begun to rain, only know Loki realizes this. Rain and Thor, quite fitting actually. The thought has just formed in his mind when lightning strikes followed by the roar of thunder. It’s so loud they can’t hear what the Midgardians are yelling even though Asgardians hear better than humans do.

“Heimdall!” Thor yells, _like yelling is even necessary,_ Loki thinks to himself with a small smile, _Heimdall hears all even the faintest of whispers._

“Open the Bifrost!” Thor’s voice is louder than the thunder is, it’s almost deafening to Loki who stands next to him. Loki narrows his eyes, squinting to look at those foolish Midgardian friends of Thor’s, they’re not going to reach them in time, the Bifrost will soon transport them away.

Loki looks up to the sky to, expecting a yellow blinding light to descend, transport them away and leave the signature mark on the roof of that Iron Man.

_Nothing happens_

**Ow yeaaaah another cliffhanger guys, I tried to stretch it but this is it! This will probably the last chapter I’ve prepared in advance, whether there will be another depends on all of you entirely, review/comment if you wants me to continue this story, I want to complete it but if no one’s interested there’s really no point eh :p A big THANK YOU to all of you who HAVE reviewed/commented/bookmarked/left kudos/favorited/followed, I love you all and I would hug you all if it were possible. Also, insects, for the people who watched agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. they know what I’m talking about yeah? For the ones who haven’t it’s not really important just a little something I wanted to put in there!**

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just I’m addicted to this story I don’t know if t’s a good thing or a bad thing? Please review/comment I’d really appreciate it! Cookies to those who have reviewed/commented!

They tried to tackle Thor, they ended up tackling Loki and just moving Thor like one inch or so. Loki’s being crushed by like three mortals and forget the fact that his body is like three times stronger than one of a mortal it still fucking _hurts_.

He pushes at them and at the age of three hundred he possess the strength of a normal mortal so it doesn’t work, he soaked by now and his hands are slippery and he just wants these mortals off of him!

Loki feels the weight being lifted off of him and he sees Thor depositing the mortals back on the ground after lifting them from his brother. When they’re all off of him (finally) Thor looks up to the sky again and Loki does the same, why didn’t the Bifrost open? It is not possible that Heimdall had not heard him. _Heimdall hears all_. Loki thinks but there’s no beam to bring them back to Asgard, there’s no reaction at all.

_Something is wrong_

Thor seems to have come to the same conclusion, confusion and dread clear on his face, if the gatekeeper can’t even open the gate then what does that say of the state Asgard must be in right now? All these thoughts and realizations come to Thor a split second later then they do to Loki, Loki jumps up.

Even the mortals seem to know something must be amiss, they’re deadly silent even the one with the eye-patch who loves to rant about earth and rules and danger and all of that. The silence is like a blanket, thick and heavy. If they can’t even reach Asgard, the only realm that has the knowledge and army they need to defeat Thanos, what are they supposed to do now? What can they possibly do without the help of the Aesir? Thor’s never been the one to stay silent for long however.

“This cannot be!” he roars, he swings Mjolnir around for no reason and the Mortals jump back. Loki’s not in the line of danger because Mjolnir soars over his head, Loki’s a lot smaller than he used to be after all.

“Heimdall!” He yells at the sky again. All of them even the mortals know it is futile. Thor keeps yelling and no one stops him. He keeps repeating the same command over and over.

“Open the Bifrost, Heimdall!”

_But nothing happens_

XxXxXxXxXx

Everyone is soaked, exhausted, worried, cautious and a whole bunch of other things that are just not positive. The tension drives everyone crazy, the only one who doesn’t seem to mind is Loki and that alone makes the tension even more unbearable. The fact that the guy the tension is about doesn’t even gives a shit works on her nerves but she’s an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. the best there is, she hides her feelings well. Clint, who’s standing next to her is usually better at this than he is now. They both blame Loki.

“Your My Little Pony Bridge didn’t come flying down from the cotton clouds, so what? There must be a bunch of explanations, for all we know all-seeing watchguy took a break or something?”

“What is a My Little Pony Bridge? I thought we were talking about Rainbow Bridges here?” Steve mumbles, almost pouting with a look on his face that says _I don’t understand any of things, nobody ever tells me anything_! Natasha almost feels sorry for him.

“Ponies, Rainbow, Leprecons, you get the point.” Tony waves it off. He has Jarvis bring him towels and is throwing them at everyone. He gives Fury a pink one naturally.

“”Add some color to your life, cyclops too much black is bad for your health!”

The rest of them get white ones except Barton who gets one with the picture of hawk  with one eye and a bow and arrow in its claws.

“Caw, caw motherfucker!” is the comment he gets when he glares at Stark. Stark flaps his arms up and down as if impersonating a bird.

Thor doesn’t even catch the towel it just hits him on the chest and falls on the ground. He shakes his head and ignores Stark, pacing all the while.

“There is but one explanation,” Loki follows Thor’s pacing with his eyes, he doesn’t look anywhere else. Thor shakes his head again and stands still, facing his brother.

“Asgard can’t be under attack, Thanos wouldn’t dare.”

Loki huffs, “It is no invasion you are correct but either way Asgard is under attack. We can only guess what happened.”

“But you have a theory, you have always been better at this than I have brother.” Thor sights, he looks weary and so much older all of a sudden. Loki shrugs.

“It is but a theory but my best guess is that he sent a small force to destroy the Bifrost.”

“So he destroyed your Bridge to make sure you can’t contact you golden friends?”

“Most likely, yes.” Loki answers. “If I were to reach Asgard it would be almost impossible for him to get to me. It takes months to repair the Bifrost, even more so because it has been recently destroyed.” He seems to be ignoring the fact that the first destruction of the Bifrost is his fault.

“Thanos has time now, he doesn’t want to risk losing this energy inside of me, he will plan his every move, it can be weeks until he strikes or hours, there is no way to know or predict. The Mad Titan has been a myth for so long, his moves and way of thinking is unknown and unpredictable to any of us.”

Fury is having none of this.

“Let’s not forget that you planned on deciding earth’s fate without our consent or opinion, this is still OUR planet Thor, and your brother’s on it I think we can have a say in all of this, this IS our problem too!”

Natasha narrows her eyes, scanning the room and their faces for their reactions. Stark rolls his eyes but seems to agree. The rest of them just don’t really seem to care at all, the only one who actually reacts is Loki, looking up from where he had been brooding, glancing at both her and Clint.

“It does not matter now for all is lost, Thanos will return and without the help of Asgard, Midgard is all that stands in his way. With all due respect friends, Midgard doesn’t stand a chance.”

Tony throws his hands in the air and waves dramatically. “You forgetting us? You know the heroes who kicked this Thanos guy’s ass like a few months back?”

“You seem to be under the illusion that you beat him?” Loki counters, he smiles haughtily. “Let me help you wake up from that fantasy, the army you defeated was but a fragment of his real fleets, the ones that will crush you with as much effort as a Bilgesnipe crushes its prey. You are but specks of dust he steps on to get what he truly desires, the end of the universe and all the lives in it.”

“So what’s stopping him from stepping on us eh?” Director Fury bites, taking a threatening step closer to Loki, who doesn’t seem fazed. Thor takes a step forward to, as a warning.

Loki ignores their actions and answers instead, turning to look out of the window, at the rain that’s now pouring out of the sky.

“What’s stopping him? Me of course, if he obliterates you all he risks losing the Tesseract Energy inside of me, the one thing that can grant him his wishes.”

No one moves or makes any noise. Natasha hears a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative inform her of her orders via the earpiece she’s still wearing. She doesn’t even have to check if Clint has heard the orders and knows what to do because she knows he does. When they make their move it’s fluent, like they’ve practiced it and none of the other Avengers had seen it coming.

XxXxXxXxXx

It’s not hard to guess what will happen next, Loki knows what will happen he has always had an affinity for this sort of thing. Thor of course does not suspect a thing and when it happens he is not prepared, Loki could have prepared but he doesn’t, a move like this it is inevitable, the Mortals will try it either way if not today than perhaps tomorrow, they have to learn the hard way that what they’re doing now is no solutions. It is much alike trying to get something through the very thick skull of Thor, he has to experience at firsthand what his action set in motion and what the consequences are of said action before he realizes he has been wrong all along. Mortals and Thor are much alike, sometimes Loki wonders who the child is and who the adult for he sometimes forgets.

He feels a knife at his throat the moment the two agents make their move, he doesn’t have to look up or around him because of course it’s the Eye of Hawk, he has to look up though because otherwise the knife will cut his throat. The red-haired woman has shot the Man of Iron a mini arrow, a tranquilizer of some sorts, Loki guesses because his eyes roll back in his head and he slumps forward. He can hear the man with the eye-patch tell the healer that it might be best if he removes himself from this room. It probably has something to do with the fact that the healer can turn into a green rage monster.

Thor jumps forward ready to grab Loki and smash the mortals, he stops abruptly when the archer presses the knife harder, drawing a bit of blood, Loki can feel the warm liquid drip down his neck.

“Stop right there Thor, I will kill him if you so much as blink the wrong way.” Loki can’t see anything because he’s looking at the ceiling to avoid his throat being cut.

Suddenly there are loud breaking noises and glass shards everywhere, he doesn’t have the time to be surprised however because his captor is moving backwards, towards the now broken windows. Helicopters (he had seen those back in Detroit) surround the building with lights too bright for Loki’s taste.

The crunching of glass beneath feet tells him that there are a lot of mortals in the now unconscious Man of iron’s living room, surrounding the captain and Thor.

“I’m sorry it has to be this way Thor but you have to understand S.H.I.E.L.D. is responsible for earth, we’re its only protection and we can’t let your bother run around with Tesseract energy in his system and a madman behind him.”

Both he and Eye of Hawk are inching towards the edge where Loki sincerely hopes is a helicopter of some sorts waiting for them or they will plummet to their death.

“Lady Romanoff, archer Hawkeye, let my brother go, in the name of our friendship. You do not know what you are doing you do not understand!” Ah yes Thor always appealing to the best in people even if there is nothing to appeal to. Thor claims to love mortals, he might call himself their friend but he doesn’t know the first thing about them.

“I’m sorry Thor, we have our orders.” It’s the last thing he hears before his captor reaches the edge and jumps off it.

XxXxXxXxXx

Barton is just following orders he is absolutely not enjoying this, yeah right. It feels good when he puts that knife on Loki’s throat and he knows somewhere deep down that its wrong but he doesn’t care. It had been exhilarating, pressing the knife harder against his throat and drawing blood. When he had gotten the orders he had to stop himself from smiling, finally they were going to serve justice they were going to do the right thing, what he had wanted to do from the beginning.

He watches Thor and Captain America carefully, ready to press the blade even harder if they make a wrong move. One step is all it takes and then he’s standing inside a helicopter, Natasha jumps into the same helicopter and he sees Fury jump in another after he gives the orders to the agents still in Stark’s living room.

“You make contact every two minutes,” he yells. Then at Thor and Captain America.

“If they don’t, Loki will die, Tesseract energy or not.”

Silence is what greets them and it is what tells them that Thor is not going to try anything and neither is Captain America.

Barton relaxes his muscles a bit one they’ve created a significant amount of miles between them and Stark Tower. Loki hasn’t moved, (because yes, Clint is still holding  knife at his throat).

The _click_ of the cuffs Natasha puts around Loki’s wrists assures Barton that Loki won’t be doing any magic tricks any time soon. Loki hasn’t done or said anything, he had even offered his wrists when Tasha had picked up the cuffs, neither of them know if this is a good sign or a bad one.

“There is no more need for the knife, agent Barton.” Loki purrs, “The cuffs are one, am I not completely helpless?” It’s like the little shit is provoking him.

“Shut up!” Oh, he really wants to slit this bastards throat, he suddenly wishes he had let him fall through that portal then he wouldn’t be here right now to mock him.

“Clint.” It’s a warning, if he doesn’t let go now things can get out of hand so he lets go, pushing Loki away from him, making him stumble a bit.

“You mortals are very predictable.” He scowls, “Like children you need to do something first before accepting that the adults were right all along and that your actions were foolish.”

“These children kicked your ass, what does that make you? But then again I’m not the one who actually got turned into a kid.” Barton knows he shouldn’t let himself be provoked but he just can’t help it, this bastard’s asking for it.

“I could explain to you, the futility of this ridiculous and reckless plan but it would fall on deaf ears, a pity really it would save us much time.” He shrugs the best he can with his hands cuffed in front of him.

“Natasha tell me you have something to shut him up or so help me I will.”

“Calm down Clint, don’t let him get your back up, that’s what he wants.” She’s so calm; how can he be so fucking calm?

She’s holding the syringe with the sedative up, “We can do this the easy way so the not so easy way, your choice.” Loki’s eying the syringe with apprehension, uncertain what to do next. Clint wants to yank his arms up, just to feel a little better but he suppresses the urge with difficulty.

“Hold your arm out.”

Loki narrows his eyes.

“Whatever it is, it won’t penetrate my skin.” He sneers, “You will need something stronger than that.”

“It’s strong enough, trust me.” She answers.

“What’s inside anyway?” Loki bites at her, taking a step back.

“Poison won’t do any good, you don’t know what it could do with the Tesseract energy inside me, are you stupid enough to tempt fate even more?”

“It’s not poison, it’s a sedative. Now give me your arm.”

Just when Clint thinks he can grab this bastard’s arm himself and force the needle in, Loki sticks out his arms to Natasha.

“Why not, maybe some sleep is exactly what I need right now.” He smiles and Clint hates it.

XxXxXxXxXx

“We will find the traitor, sire.” The Einherjar bows in front of the All-father, his message brings no news. If even Heimdall, the All-seeing, the All-hearing cannot find him, this traitor, this enemy of Asgard had slipped Heimdalls watch and destroyed the Bifrost, the Bridge between the realms.

Odin nods at his warrior, telling him that the search for this traitor is futile and a waste of time will only be seen as a sign of surrender to their unknown enemy, one that even Heimdall cannot see. These are hard and tiresome times, the betrayal of Loki, his murder spree on Midgard and the oncoming Council, a war with an unknown foe is the last thing Asgard and the Nine Realms need. Without the Bifrost, contact with the other realms is almost impossible, Heimdall stands guard on a broken bridge once more.

Gugnir has never felt so heavy in his hand, Frigga, who stands beside him, gazes at nothing, with a look of weariness and concern on her face.

Thor their son is stranded on earth and Asgard can do nothing but watch. The All-Father with his almighty spear and formidable army can do nothing to help his son. Odin has to concentrate on the direct threat to Asgard, he must be a king before a father, so he orders more search parties and searches the realms himself. Nothing there suggests so but Odin knows.

_There is a war coming_

XxXxXxXxXx

“The signal is lost.” The Other had been smart enough to make another minion deliver the news to Him. The unfortunate servant is killed immediately.

Outside their soldiers are restless, craving battle, they need bloodshed but they will have to wait, once the Masters plan unfolds, they will have their desired slaughter and they can kill everything that stands in their way. There will be an endless war, like He commands there to be.

He steps over the lifeless body of the messenger.

“What shall we do Master? The Midgardians hold him somewhere we know not where.” His Master does not move, the Mind Gem he holds glows and radiates power, the only light in the entire realm.

“Find the humans who have hidden him and send them a message. Playtime is over.”

XxXxXxXxXx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit short and I didn’t really know where I was going but yeah, hope you liked it and yes S.H.I.E.L.D. will soon realize what a horrible mistake they’ve made and they will pay the price for it. NOBODY’s mean to Loki and doesn’t get what’s coming to them, hehehe.  
> PLEASE comment even if it's just to say one word, it'd be greatly apreciated


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loki’s a prisoner of S.H.I.E.L.D. now but trust me it won’t last long, please review/comment and remember more than 5 reviews means a preview of the next chapter on Wednesdays!
> 
> I also understand that I’ve made some people hate Natasha and Clint for this or do not like the way the story is going, I feel the need to explain why I made them do this and I hope you’ll understand. Of course it is still your opinion and you have the right to stick to it, just please, read the next (long) explanation.
> 
> SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA THE WINTER SOLDIER)
> 
> I based the fact that she obeys S.H.I.E.L.D. like this on the events in the movie, when Hydra is revealed to be a parasite that has been growing into S.H.I.E.L.D. and that the Black Widow was actually working for Hydra she says (I could not find the quote but it comes down to this) that she thought she was doing good, working for .H.I.E.L.D. after all the bad things she's done, I like to believe that before the events of the Winter Soldier she obeyed S.H.I.E.L.D. almost BLINDLY (Fury says: Agent Romanoff is comfortable with anything) that she'll do anything for S.H.I.E.L.D. because she believes it's her redemption.
> 
> For Clint: I've read many ifferent fics and one in particular was one that described him as being very emotionally traumatized, his MIND was taken away from him, he'd been a puppet in the hands of a madman and I believe that no one can just get over that and pretend they don't want the man who hurt to pay, I wanted to make him more real by showing that he can't forgive Loki yet and he needs some closure before he ever will.
> 
> (MINOR SPOILERS TO THE FIC!!!!!)
> 
> they'll both realize what they've done and they'll both question S.H.I.E.L.D. I just think this arc was needed especially for Clint, he's going to play a major role later (much later) and he needs to either find closure or see that REVENGE isn't always the solution.

Two days and in those two days absolutely nothing has happened. Clint doesn’t know how to feel about that. He’s sitting in the control room, a window gives him clear view of their prisoner.  Loki is wearing the a smaller model of the cuffs he wore back in New York when they had defeated them, they’re built to keep his magic at bay and they’re not long term solution but no one has any better ideas so the cuffs stay on. They’ve kept him sedated for the whole two days because no one knows what to do when he wakes up. That the prisoner hasn’t eaten since is a problem they have thought about of course but do not know a solution for yet. His mouth is covered with a smaller version of the gag they used on him also after they defeated him in New York. Honestly, nobody really knows how to restrain him otherwise.

They are in a secret base built to confine non-human prisoners yet the doors creak like it is an old haunted house. He doesn’t even look up, it’s Natasha of course, they’ haven’t really spoken much since they brought Loki in, both had been busy and Clint must admit that he had been irritable the last two days. His mood seems to worsen by every passing minute.

They both look at Loki, silence reigns over them, it’s not the awkward silence you have when no one really knows how to start the conversation and every minute just makes the silence more awkward, it’s like an understanding, they both need some time to think. This is one of the prime reasons they’re such a formidable team.

This silence cannot last forever though, Clint wants it too but he too knows it can’t.

“I thought you would feel better once Loki was locked up but you don’t act like you’re happy about this.”

She leans forward on the controls, looking at Loki. Some other agents pass the window that looks like a mirror from the outside. Loki’s cage or room or whatever is in the middle of the base, glass wall to keep an eye on him and cameras and automatic guns everywhere pointed at him, tracking his every movement even in his sleep.

“I thought so too.”

“Then what’s wrong?”  She turns her head around for a moment to look at him. Outside the room there’s a woman bringing everyone coffee and Clint would really like some coffee right now.

“”I don’t know.” She’s almost at the control room. Her hair is tied in a bun, glasses on, she looks like a secretary.  Come to think of it, Clint’s never seen this woman around. Well it is a very big base.

“You don’t know what? What’s wrong or how you’re feeling right now?”

An agent comes in Loki’s cell and injects more sedative. The demi-god doesn’t react, lying still unless when dreams or nightmares cause him to move. The agent obviously doesn’t want to stay inside the cell for too long, he hurries out the moment he’s done. Nobody really likes to be close to the cell or even look at it. Nobody’s saying it everyone can see it though. This might be Loki he still looks like a kid. It makes all of this seem so wrong, against their principles and their purpose. Protect, not lock up and sedate because you don’t know what to do otherwise.

“Both,” It’s silent again but something urges Barton to continue. Maybe it’s because the coffee lady is gone to get more coffee and he wants something to fill the time until she comes back and gives him that coffee he so dearly wants.

“Look ‘Tasha, I never expected that by seeing him locked up like this would make me feel so much better, that it would chase away the nightmares and the memories and the horror, but this, this isn’t…” he sighs, what can he say? He doesn’t really know himself for sure. His hate for Loki still burns but all of this doesn’t seem right.

“What you want?” Natasha suggests. Clint nods.

“I thought I wanted him to suffer for what he did to me and too all the people who have lost someone in the battle of New York, why don’t I feel glad? Why am I not relieved  or feel better?”

“Locking up an enemy is one thing,” She answers, “sedating him like this, locking him up in a cell for everyone to see, not even giving him food because we’re afraid of what he might do. We’re not equipped for this S.H.I.E.LD isn’t- earth isn’t equipped for this, this isn’t a way to treat anyone, friend or foe.” Natasha has doubts about this too, Clint knows because honestly almost everyone in this base has.

“Nobody ever told us it was going to be like this, alien invasions, de-aged gods, mad titans… This whole mess, we weren’t _trained_ or _prepared_ for this.”

“And,” Clint manages to smile although it’s a grim one. The sight of Loki lying there, helpless and restrained even though unconscious makes it almost impossible to act normal, “Thor will never forgive us for this.”

Tasha doesn’t laugh or scoff she just stares at Barton for a moment.

“It surprises me that they’re not here yet, Stark hasn’t figured where this base is?” She searches for a chair and pushes it next to Clint.

It’s been quiet outside for a long time and where is that coffee lady? Clint stands up and looks through the window. Some scientists stand before computer screens and keep writing notes even though Clint’s fairly sure you can’t actually make that many notes about a mini-god sleeping. Where is everyone else, not that this base has ever been really crowded it has many floors and agents are always running about never staying on one floor very long. The man the coffee lady had talked to is out of Clint’s sight.

A frown forms on the agent’s forehead. _Where is everybody?_

Clint schools his expression of one of curiosity rather than caution. He turns around casually and leans back on the control panel as if he’s just making conversation like any other given day.

One of the reason he really likes Natasha is the fact that they somehow are able to understand each other without having to talk to each other. They have done so many missions together they know it when something’s off.

She suddenly starts laughing and so does Clint, pretending to have had some inside joke she rubs her eyes as if her eyes are watering from all the laughing. Barton starts talking about something anything, he starts about his arrows, that Fury’s given him a new kind one that can virtually cut through anything including Asgardian armor while Tasha occasionally nods and smiles, answering weird words that so it looks like she’s engaging in the conversation.

Her eyes scan the entire floor and Clint knows that she’s wearing a contact lens, made by Stark, (at least he’s good for something other than destroying building and monuments and all of that) and infrared scanner he instinctively knows because that’s what he would use. In the report she had made he had read that via infra-red you can distinguish human from Chitauri shape shifters.

She blinks a few times rapidly and looks up to Clint. And then it feel like the world has exploded and everything goes dark for a moment.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki’s drifting in and out of consciousness, he doesn’t know how much time has passed but he’s been hoarding his magic as much as he can. The cuffs might prevent him from using it on for spells, putting it to work on his body is still possible. They’ve been trying to keep him completely sedated but mortals are truly stupid. They somehow managed to convince themselves that this would work. They forget he’s a god.

He feels the heat of the lamps shining down on him and the hard cement floor. Really they couldn’t at least  give him a bed? Huh mortals and manners do not mix apparently.

He’s been saving his magic, normally it would have fought the sedative already but he keeps it from doing just that, he knows he’ll need all the magic he can get, sometimes it surprises him how much magic he has, he would have sworn he didn’t have so much a few days ago but he can only be grateful and not question it too much, there are other more important things that are asking his attention right now.

It’s only been a day and he can already feel them, they certainly couldn’t have acted more quickly, they had already infiltrated them in only a matter of hours. Loki knew then he did not have much time and of course he had been right, sometimes he wanted to be wrong in situations like this.

The door opens and Loki keeps still, the needle is pressed in his arm and he almost smirk but he doesn’t. A little magic here and whatever is in that syringe turns harmless. He can feel the threat, he knows they’ll act any moment now so he focusses all his magic on fighting the sedative, it’s out of his system in no time at all and he swears he’ll never question the amount of magic inside him because it’s a lifesaver, quite literally.

An explosion rocks the entire base, he can feel the walls of his cell shaking, around the cell giant debris lands on the ground, some shatter and others just crush some moral who are not able to jump out of the way in time. The scientists next to his cage are reduced to pools of blood under giant pieces of the ceiling. People are screaming and guns are shooting, there smoke and dust everywhere and all the while explosions keep on rocking the base.

Loki jumps up, hindered by those stupid cuffs, another explosion makes the walls of his cell crack and he hopes another explosion will create a whole big enough for him to get through. He doesn’t know who has the keys but he has a fairly good idea.  He shuffles to the middle of the cell, if one of the walls collapses he doesn’t want to be squashed. Outside his cage it’s eerily quiet, the mirror a few feet away from the cage is cracked, the next explosion shatter the glass, pieces fly everywhere and Loki can see the people he had hoped to see: Eye of Hawk and Black Widow.

He can’t celebrate his good fortune because another explosion makes two wall collapse, he can barely dodge both of them and then he sprints out of this damned cell.

An arrow almost takes his eye out and bullets almost skewer him. He duck but keep running, _mortals by the Norns, how stupid are they?_

He reaches the room that had been hidden by the mirror and kicks in the door when another explosion makes him stumble.

Of course there’s an arrow pointing at his head and so is a gun oh how Loki wants to mock them but he’s gagged so he just stares at them with the same glare he does when Thor’s being an idiot.

The woman lowers her weapon first and the mortals exchange a glance.

“One wrong move reindeer and we shoot you Tesseract energy my arse” Clint grits while his partner moves to remove the cuffs and gag from their now former prisoner.

When the gag is finally removed, Loki spits out the blood that’s been bothering him. And looks up to the mortals trying and failing to not look _too_ smug about all of this.

He opens his mouth to speak, the archers cuts him off though.

“Don’t you dare say _I told you so_ I will end you!”

So Loki closes his mouth and offers his hands to the woman with the key.

XxXxXxXxXx

Fuck this, fuck aliens and their stupid war fetish, fuck Asgardians with brother complexes., seriously, Fury wants to go back to the old times, without this superhero villain crap that keeps popping up in random places and at random times, like seriously if there’s a real god up there he might want to consider sending Fury a heads up next time some alien freak decides he wants to court death and kill everyone to do it. In what kind of world are they living in, Jesus, or whatever other Messiah God wants to send because a messiah would be real handy right now, not some unstable team of freaks with super powers.

Fury’s thinking lovely thoughts when the alarm goes off and agent Maria Hill comes running to his office once more, is anyone seeing a pattern here because Fury is and he doesn’t like it at all. There are not many things Fury likes to begin with anyway.

“Sir, we have a problem, level 10! The base we locked prisoner 221 in is being attacked at this very moment, sir. We don’t know what’s going on all systems there are offline and no one’s responding what shall we do sir?”

“Get me a damn helicopter right now and ready a team, as many as you can, we gotta leave NOW!”

XxXxXxXxXx

“What are you doing?” they’ve been cornered, Chitauri warriors everywhere and it won’t be long before the ammunition runs out. Before the one thing that’s been keeping them from getting killed is gone and then they’ll probably have mere minutes considering the number. They have one advantage though, the Chiaturi are not risking getting any closer because they can harm the Tesseract energy, no bombs are thrown and they’re at some kind of impasse right now. The Chitauri stay where they are and so do the agents and Loki.

All of them know this isn’t going to last. The sounds of buttons being pressed rapidly is drowned out by the sound of aliens shooting at them, it still annoy Natasha though. Since Loki has ignored Clint’s question she crawls forward and puts a hand on his shoulder turning him around with a gun to his face.

“What are you doing?” she hisses through her teeth, she can hear more Chitauri entering the room, how many can fit in on this floor anyway?

He looks at her with spite and annoyance, swatting her hand away he turns back around.

“I am signaling the Man or Iron, we will not survive without my brother’s help, I had hoped you had already come to this conclusion but your mortal brain and mind are obviously not capable of  coming to a logical conclusion like this.” He snaps, fingers moving like crazy.

“This isn’t a communication panel you idiot, it’s a control panel for the prison cell you were supposed to be in!”

“Indeed it is, but it has the capabilities to send out a signal, if modified in the right way.” Natasha doesn’t like the smugness in his voice.

“Yeah, how are you going to do that?”

“Your technology is primitive, this is the reason why I was so unfamiliar with it, this is ancient but I’ll manage, we only need a bit more time.”

“We don’t have time!” Natasha yells, when the Chitauri open fire once again and she’s forced to shoot back or be Swiss cheese.

“It will only take a few minutes!” Loki growls back, it doesn’t sound very impressive since his voice is of a twelve-year-old.

Natasha is right of course, they don’t have time. But a few minutes, she turns around to look at Clint who’s been following the conversation with narrowed eyes. They both come to an agreement.

“Five minutes, it’s all we can give you.” Natasha states, she crawls back, the infrared scanner in her eyes shows her the enemies that are hidden from them by walls.

“Five minutes will suffice,” is the only answer she gets, she can just see Loki use some kind of magic and open up the insides of the machine, making the wires disconnect from each other and connect to others, electricity sparks from the cables and lights flicker on the control panel, there probably is noise but she can’t hear it because of all the shooting.

Clint reaches in his belt a grenade lands in his hands. He only has the one and even that one is a liability if Clint makes it go off at a weak pillar the whole place can collapse right on top of them, all the explosions the Chitauri had caused earlier had made the whole base unstable.

They exchange a glance, Natasha grabs her extra gun, locked and loaded and her eyes keep scanning the enemy’s movements.

When the shooting stops for a moment neither of them hesitate, Clint throws the grenade making it blow as fast as he can without causing the control room too much damage. The explosion makes the whole floor quake, piles of rubble starts falling down crushing several unfortunate Chitauri warriors and knocking other out, they come from their hiding place, almost entirely hidden with all the smoke and dust everywhere.

With a swift movement she kicks the weapon out of the hands (or whatever these things have) of a the alien closest to her and shoots it with its own gun, his comrades immediately start shooting and turn their attention her way, that’s when Barton starts shooting too and in the confusion Natasha creeps forwards again, shooting two other enemies while they’re distracted by Clint and knock another out who had turned around to fight her.

More come and now that the dust has settled a bit they’ve lost that advantage too, the Chitauri can see them better now and hiding is no longer an option. From the corner of her left eye she sees Clint fire his last arrows before dropping his bow and picking up an enemy weapon, shooting with deadly precision.

And then the roof just caves in, for a moment both her and Clint are blinded. But the infrared scanner shows her what she doesn’t want to see.

The Other and standing next to him _are S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, with eyes as blue as Clint’s were back in the battle of New York._

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s raining cliffhangers! Hallelujah, it’s raining cliffhangers J
> 
> please review and tell me what you think!
> 
> XxTheAlgea


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has reviewed, I can’t thank you enough! BTW everyone that followed/subscribed: I can see you there, please leave a review/comment it only takes like two seconds or so and you’d really motivate me to keep writing!

The only sound that can be heard in the room is that of computers and machines buzzing and Tony and Bruce typing and of course Thor’s angry pacing and complaining. So much has happened…

After being shot by a dart, he doesn’t know what had happened Bruce, Steve and Thor had told him everything though. Steve is in the other room right now but none of the people in the room right now are thinking about him, they’re too busy. Steve had decided he would need his sleep and since he knows nada about technology he had known he’d only bother them, apparently Thor hadn’t got the memo though.

“It’s been two days how can you not have found the base already? If it takes one more minutes I will search every inch of earth myself!” No reaction.

“I should have stopped them, I have failed my brother!”

Tony’s pretty sure he’s going to have a headache. Thor hasn’t stopped complaining and raging ever since Loki practically got kidnapped by that irritating S.H.I.EL.D. Oh how badly Tony wanted to get his hands on Fury he will put on the suit and go a few rounds with the annoying leader of the most obnoxious and arrogant organization that has ever been made.

Ignoring Thor and concentrating on his work he sighs, they had been working non-stop, coffee had been their savior but Tony knows he can’t keep on like this for much longer, Tony may be a super hero and all of that, he still needs sleep to function. Bruce next to him had taken a break a few hours ago, no one had known what effects could be concerning the other guy when Bruce was too tired to properly function, maybe he’d lose control or something but really, nobody wants to find out anyway.

They had found decoys, layers of decoys but not the actual base; Tony wouldn’t admit it out loud but he’s impressed, S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t totally incompetent when it comes to technology after all.  Tony’s still Tony so he’ll find that base no matter what security measures S.H.I.E.L.D. has taken, it will just take some time, time that Thor wasts by ranting and raging to himself and the two scientist in the same room as him. Suddenly an energy spike is monitored, coming from… the desert?

Tony narrows his eyes,

“Hey Brucie take a look at this.”

 Tony points at the screen, having used a satellite to zoom in on the location. In the middle of the desert there’s giant hole as in like some sort of tunnel. Suddenly the satellite starts to malfunction, a bright blue flash illuminates the screen and for a second both scientists are blinded.

When Tony finally finds another satellite which can give the footage of the sight smoke is rising from the hole.

“What’s that?” Bruce asks pointing at a very small shimmer of light inside the dark tunnel.

Tony zooms in the best he can, both avengers stare at the screen. There’s no mistaking it, the small blue light and the glow emanating from it.

_The Mind Gem_

“Thor?” The thunder god looks up immediately and stands by their side in a matter of seconds.

“We found your brother but we aren’t the only ones.”

XxXxXxXxXx

The signal has been sent, there’s nothing he else he can do right now, using his magic to perfect the machine had cost him much more magic than he had anticipated, that and getting the sedative out of his body, it had drained him.

He’s aware of the fact that his breathing is getting labored and that he’s fucking three hundred and not two thousand he can’t expect his body to be in top form after being sedated for two days.

Only now he’s aware of the fact that the shooting has stopped, hesitantly he peeks above the machine and the concrete wall that has been protecting him and the sight that meets him is almost enough to make him give up. The two agents are surrounded by Chitauri warriors, directly in front of them stands the Other and Loki doesn’t even have to look at the eyes of the mortals standing after the Other he can feel the magic which is strangely familiar, the Mind Gem.

Loki must admit he hadn’t expect Thanos to send his second in command with the Mind Gem, a weapon like that, what if the Other loses it, after so much trouble to get it in the first place. Loki sincerely hopes Thor has seen his signal because if he hasn’t than Loki’s as good as dead.

He ducks back hoping against all hope that the alien hasn’t seen him, yeah right like that’s going to happen, with Loki’s luck it would be a miracle if he hadn’t seen him.

Normally Loki would have been prepared but right now there are several problems stopping him from coming up with some brilliant plan.

Problem number one: Loki has no magic reserves, literally none, if he tries to use his magic when he’s in a state like this, it would be just as dangerous as just going with the Other right now and presenting himself to Thanos.

Second problem: He is exhausted you’d think that after sleeping for two days he’d be pretty awake but he isn’t, the sedative has exhausted him, his body and his mind, actually his vision is swarming right now, black spots occasionally appear out of nowhere. He blinks a couple of times, he can sleep later, or so he hopes.

He really thinks they’re screwed right now but then people are shooting at them again and it’s not the Chitauri, Loki really doesn’t know whether to be happy about this or not.

XxXxXxXxXx

This is something Nick Fury does like: shooting some ugly ass aliens, he really enjoys this. He knows agent Romanoff and Barton are there but they’re grown-ups they know how to handle things like this, next to him two other helicopters are shooting as well, Maria Hill is obviously enjoying herself as well. 

They have been giving clear instructions, the moment Fury had seen that the Mind Gem was involved and that some of his agents had been compromised he had ordered to shoot with darts to knock everyone out, including Chitauri scum he prefers shooting their alien butts full of lead but he can’t kill his own agents, none of them can.

He can see every hostile fall like flies, a flash of red tells him Romanoff hasn’t been hit and is neutralizing enemies as well. Barton seems fine as well because Fury can see him collect arrows from the corpses of the Chitauri warriors he’s killed.

Fury is really enjoying himself with this, perhaps they can even take the Other out. He just hopes they haven’t gotten their filthy claws on Loki yet because he really doesn’t know the situation down there, communication had been cut off, oh he hates these alien so much.

Everything’s going great, and just when he thinks maybe just maybe he can defeat them before… the skies suddenly start rumbling and dark clouds cast large shadows on them, lighting flashes in the sky that had been perfectly blue not a few seconds ago.

_What had he been thinking anyway_

And then the Thunder God lands right in the base, roaring and swinging his hammer like a maniac, calling for his brother all the while.

XxXxXxXxXx

For once the thrill of battle is not what has drawn him here and also for once he doesn’t properly enjoy it.

“Loki!? Brother!” He yells, one swing with his hammer in the face of one of the Chitauri, the force makes him fly backwards, taking out some of his comrades in the process, a fist in the face of the next, an elbow in the stomach of the other and then another mighty swing from Mjolnir.

“Loki? Answer me where are you brother?” He roars, still crushing enemies like it’s nothing, he can vaguely hear the Man of Iron blast his way in and the Hulk smashing other enemies.

Thor has noticed there are mortals fighting them as well, he tries to be gentle with them, knocking them unconscious trying not to damage them too badly.

“Thor!” He swirls around at the sound of his brother’s voice and sees him peeking from begin a small cement wall, he looks horrible and Thor’s anger rises, it makes his chest hurt and he’s not so gentle with the mortals anymore, _how dare they?_

He runs to his brother swatting away enemies like flies he doesn’t waste any time when he gets there and hugs his brother, picking him up with his left hand, right hand still fighting.

“Put me down Thor!”

Loki can still complain that means his brother isn’t hurt too bad, a grin forms on Thor’s face and suddenly he can enjoy battle again. He ignores his brother and Loki huffs in annoyance but keeps quiet but still glaring at his brother.

Honestly the fight doesn’t last as long as expected, suddenly the Chitauri retreat, disappearing in a portal transporting them to their ship.

Not all of them leave though, and suddenly all the mortals, even the ones who had been taken out stand up as if driven by an invisible source.

_The Mind Gem_

They line up and no one moves, it’s eerily silent. A few Chitauri are still standing and line up too and the Other raises the scepter, grinning at them like he’s won the battle.

_“Thunder god, remember this day for this is the day you shall see, you cannot protect your precious brother forever.”_

The All-Tongue makes Thor understand him but even with this ability Thor knows that this language is different, even the All-Tongue seems to have a problem with it, the words are unclear which should not be possible, the All-Tongue makes every language sound like it is your mother tongue!

The second in command turns his attention to Loki, ignoring everyone else in the room, Loki’s been following the movements of the Mortals with his eyes carefully.

“ _You cannot hide forever Liesmith, Thanos will get what he wants.”_

Loki doesn’t react he just stares but Thor can feel him shake whether because of fear or anger he doesn’t know.

Only then turns the Other around to talk to the mortals, he directs his attention to Director Fury in the helicopter, smiling widely.

“Mortals, this is a message from Thanos, the fun and games are over, time to pay the price for your defiance, you pitiful humans.”

Thor doesn’t know what he had expected but what happens next is not on the list. Loki seems to have anticipated it though, he turns his head away, shaking it.

The other raises his scepter a little and then the Chitauri fire, all the Chiaturi leave through the portal, the Other goes last, leaving behind the smoking corpses of every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that had been under his control.

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve cannot believe they just forgot about him! He doesn’t have time to be angry about that however because just as he makes a move to leave to the coordinates Jarvis has given him the others arrive.

Steve is very relieved when he sees Loki, Thor is holding him and Loki isn’t moving, he’s sitting upright but he doesn’t move.

Only then Steve realizes there’s something wrong, every single one of them does not look like they’ve won a battle, they look like they’ve lost one…

None of them wants to tell him what has happened except for Natasha, she grunts out the big picture and Steve understands, they don’t look like they’ve on a battle for they _have_ lost one.

The meeting room is full of people yet no one talks, every single one of them looks beaten down, faced with the truth: Thanos is so much more powerful than they are, the only reason they’re not dead yet is because of the very simple fact that Thanos had only been playing games with them to perfect his plans. How can they expect to beat an enemy as strong as Thanos is?

All of them just stare into nothingness even Tony doesn’t open his mouth to lighten the ood because no one can. The silence lasts a long time and when it’s broken all of their heads turn to the speaker, Loki.

XxXxXxXxXx

“Thanos will not stop at this.” He says, Loki feels their stares but they can’t just sit here and do nothing, while they’re sitting here, discouraged and wallowing in self-pity Thanos is preparing yet another attack or plan to take Loki _and this time_ Loki knows _it’s for real_.

“He will strike again, this time if we do not stop him, it will cost you more than the lives of your agents alone.”

“Why would we listen to the likes of you!” Nick Fury grits out, his one eye is closed and when he opens it, it’s filled with anger.

“You are the one who caused all of this, Earth doesn’t want this kind of trouble yet you Asgardians keep popping up!”

Thor stands up abruptly slamming his fist on the table with a big BANG.

“How dare you! Asgard has helped earth, has come to your aid and you abducted MY BROTHER, locked him up like an animal, sedated and didn’t even give him FOOD!”

His grip on Mjolnir becomes very obvious and his other hand balls into a fist.

“We didn’t have a choice Thor!” Natasha counters, she looks relaxed but Loki can see she’s nervous, angry and so much more, she is a difficult woman to read.

“Do not take me for a fool Lady Romanoff, because of your foolish actions you not only endangered my brother but your comrades as well, you were warned!” He yells.

“We did we thought was best!” Nick Fury bites.

“So the best was to lock him up in inhuman conditions in an underground base in the desert after kidnapping him and threatening us?” Bruce’s tone is calm but everyone backs away a bit.

“Yes, at the time it was best.”

“No” Captain America interrupts. “You did what _you_ thought best and you didn’t bother checking with us or even think about the possible consequences!”

“It was not some impulsive action, captain I assure you, we calculated the risks and decided that it was our best option!”

“It’s not your choice what happens to MY brother, he is a citizen of Asgard, HE is a PRINCE of Asgard and my brother! Midgard does not have the right to make decisions about his fate like this without MY consent!”

“Asgard? You talk about Asgard but where are your Asgardians Thor? This is war and in war we need to make the hard decisions to protect our planet!”

“You lost more agents by taking this path than you would have taking another, wiser one!”

“Do not-“

“-NO! Nick Fury of Midgard. This was a crime, a crime against Asgard.”

Fury seems to lose it but he doesn’t get the chance to yell back.

“SHUT UP!” An energy wave hits them all and all of them turn their head to look at Loki again.

“You bickering _fools!_ What do you think this bantering will accomplish? What happened in the past is gone now, face the consequences and _think_ about all of this for a second you morons!”

Finally he has their attention, these mortals why do they make everything so complicated, can’t they understand that there are more urgent matters at hand? Like the destruction of all life in the entire universe for example?

Thor nods.

“My brother is right there are more pressing matters at hand.” He turns to Clint, Natasha and Fury.

“But I will not forget this, Asgard will not forget this.”

Loki wants to strangle all of them, didn’t he just say they should shut up? He slows his breathing down, exhaustion making itself known again, he won’t be able to keep this up for much longer.

Loki cannot continue because agent Romanoff decides to join the conversation in a cold voice.

“Forget or don’t forget whatever you want Thor, right now, you need us and we need you. You can hate me and S.H.I.E.L.D. as much as you like after all of this is over.”

Finally it’s silent as everyone contemplates what has been said. It’s the truth.

“Thanos could have sent a bigger force, I hope you all realize this?” Loki’s voice sounds loud in the sudden silence, the healer nods.

“He sent a warning, a message.” He answers.

“He killed more than fifty specifically trained agents to send us a warning?” Fury snaps.

Loki ignores him, and continues.

“Thanos will strike again and this time it’ll be for real.”

“Yeah,” Tony pipes in, after a suspiciously long time of saying nothing, “because the attacks from the last weeks were nothing but bee stings.”

Loki has to suppress the urge to roll his eyes, when are these mortal going to get it? Thanos is a power they cannot dream to defeat if they do not take action soon then Thanos _will_ win.

“To Thanos: yes, they were nothing, he has an army stronger and moe lethal than you could ever imagine.”

“So the only reason he hasn’t unleashed this force yet is because he need the Tesseract Energy inside of you, correct?” Bruce asks, Loki nods, everyone tenses again, this conversation is going the exact way another conversation had went a few days ago when S.H.I.E.L.D. had decided to kidnap Loki.

“So basically we’re all doomed?” Fury bites.

Loki shakes his head and smiles weakly.

“Not entirely,” now he really has everyone’s attention, the next few hours, he knows are going to be critical, he’s had more than enough time to ponder about all of this in his nice cell in the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, Thanos will not attack immediately, Loki had thought, because the Tesseract Energy inside of him is too valuable, if anything happens to it, it could ruin Thanos’ plan. If Loki has to guess (and he does) Thanos will attack in maybe three to four days and not before. Loki doesn’t know how he knows but somehow he knows how Thanos will act, not for 100 percent of course, the mad titan is still unpredictable at times but Loki only has to think _what would I do?_

And until now, Thanos had acted almost exactly like Loki would have, strategically, letting the mortals think they have won then crush all hope they might have and exterminate them all, really it isn’t even that hard.

He opens his mouth and starts explaining and prays to anyone who will listen that he’s right about all of this, if he isn’t than he’s not only signing the death warrant of whole Midgard but of all the Nine realms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VERY short I know, I’m having a small writer’s block, I know where I want to go with this story I just don’t really know how to get there, please review/comment. Also, I read in some reviews that you wanted Tony to kick them out. The reason Tony, Bruce and Steve haven’t said much is very simple: everyone is uncertain, this is not some naïve little group we’re talking about and their suspicions are still there. Also they need agent Romanoff and Barton to win this upcoming war.  
> XxTheAlgea


	14. Chapter 14

**I thought I’d give you all a happy chapter! I still don’t really know how to continue to get where I want to go but we’ll see! Don’t forget! More than 5 reviews equal a preview on Wednesdays.**

Loki wishes they would all relax, hadn’t he told them that Thanos wouldn’t attack for at least another three days? Why are these mortals so nervous and stressed anyway, there’s nothing more to be done, when Thanos comes they’ll have to deal with it, pacing and complaining is both a waste of time and of energy. The man of iron is staring at the chess board currently the only one who’s not pacing or sighing every two minutes.

Thor keeps swinging Mjolnir and doesn’t stop complaining. The captain of America sits in one of the chairs deep in thought, the two agents sit next to each other, looking the most relaxed of them all. The healer is currently in some other room, Loki does not know where.

“I got it!” Stark exclaims throwing his hands in the air, moving his hand to the knight, the hand hovers above it for a few seconds but falls back at his side. The frown on his face is most amusing and Loki cannot help but grin.

‘No, no I don’t.” he sighs, staring at the board once more. None of them react because this has been going on all morning, at first every single one of them had jumped up, weapons at the ready (except Loki of course) only to then realize that it had just been Stark thinking he had found a winning strategy. (He hadn’t of course)

It’s silent again for a few precious minutes before Stark once again throws his hands in the air!

“I got it!” This time he does move a piece. Loki grins he moves his knight and Stark’s face falls.

“Okay so maybe I didn’t.” he admits.

“You’ll lose, Man of Iron, look at your rook and my knight, you can’t do anything, think five steps ahead, you’ll see, you’re stuck.” Loki gloats. Nobody’s interested in his victory though.

It takes his opponent exactly two minutes to get to the same conclusion Loki has. Stark’s lost. He just grumbles and knocks his own king down.

“Fine you win.” He mumbles.

From the corner of his eye Loki sees Steve look up.

“Didn’t you do like five moves?” he asks.

“Well grandpa, you try playing chess with a three hundred-year-old see how long you’ll last!”

“Hey I’m just asking.” The captain grins.

“But you got beaten by a kid, Stark, that can’t be good for your big ego.” He jokes.

“This KID is like half-god or something.”

“Whatever.”

Loki rolls his eyes, sometimes he wonder who’s really the kid around here, these mortals sure act like it.

“Not that I don’t enjoy your company thoroughly,” he mocks. “but where’s the healer?”

“Brucie’s doing some research on your blue magical, mind controlling glow stick.” Tony says waving at the door.

“The Mind Gem? Why didn’t he tell me, I could help with that.”

“Dunno,” Stark shrugs.

“Yeah I bet you know all about the scepter.” The eye of hawk’s voice is like venom. No one reacts but Thor who takes a threatening step towards the agent but after a slight shake of Loki’s head he steps back, still glaring though. Nobody has forgiven the spies for their actions, they all however understand them. Whatever the personal feelings or the cost, both are _agents_ which means they follow orders, the one to be blamed is actually Fury but he’s not here to kick the living daylights out. Most of them ignore both spies, the only reason they’re allowed to stay is because they are _needed_ no one likes to admit it but they are, their skills and knowledge but they are also part of the Avengers, like it or not.

It’s been a silent agreement to ignore them but Thor still has difficulties with that and all of them know for a fact that Thor _had had a word_ with them, Thor still reacts and looks like he might punch one of them (Clint most likely) in the face very soon.

“Yes, well since I do, perhaps it would be best if I went to share my excessive knowledge with the healer.”

Loki jumps from the chair and exits the room quickly, he can feel the archer’s glare on his back but he ignores it, back home everybody glares at him so why should he care about one mortal with some stupid grudge.

XxXxXxXxXx

At first Bruce’s not certain whether to be happy that Loki’s come to help him or not, the reason he had separated himself from everyone else is still Loki but soon he realizes that Loki knows so much more of the scepter and of its workings than Bruce could have ever hoped to without the mini-god.

Bruce knows Loki has knowledge about the computers and machines in Stark’s lab above even his own. It’s still a weird sight to see a twelve-year-old dressed Asgardian clothing working with computers like some professional scientist.

“See this?” Loki asks. He points at the model of the scepter, to be more specific at the place where the Mind Gem is located. “Enhanced glass, nothing breaks through that but radiation and the power of the Mind Gem.”

Bruce frowns, he hadn’t even noticed a glass layer covering the scepter not even a millimeter of glass had he seen when studying the scepter not even with a microscope.

“So it’s like a protective coat?” he suggests, pushing his glasses up and putting down the papers he had been holding.

“Like the other gems, the Mind Gem is far from indestructible, I assume Thanos wants to protect it, if it is destroyed every mind controlled is free, every spell placed upon it, is broken.”

“So it’s a fragile mind controlling hocus pocus rock from outer space.” They both turn around and of course neither are surprised when they see Tony sauntering in the lab. He leans on one of the desks and glances at the computer screens.

“I see you’ve been studying quite a lot there my fellow nerds.” He jokes, picking up the paper Bruce had put down a few seconds ago.

“Are you here to help, Iron Man, if you are not that perhaps leaving is the best course of action?” Loki drawls, turning around again with one swift motion of his finger the projection in his hands zooms in on the gem.

“I am here to help actually!” Tony exclaims happily, he throws the papers away like they’re not very important notes on an extraterrestrial weapon.

Bruce runs towards Tony as fast as he can and picks up the papers, he worked very hard on those thank you very much. While grabbing the papers fast enough so Tony doesn’t step on them he mutters.

“You’re not really helping right now Tony, if you wanna help, there are these energy reading I’d like to-“

“Wooh there Brucie, let the genius finish his sentences.” He chastises. Bruce can feel the Other Guy’s urge to smack Tony really hard but he manages to control it.

“So everything’s been a bit dull, you know, tension with the two Totally Spies and me letting Loki win the chess games-“ (Loki snorts at that one) “-and I thought why not do something fun?”

Bruce frowns, he doesn’t like where this is going.

“Something fun, Tony? With the fate of the worlds in our hands and its destruction almost imminent?” Sarcasm has never been Bruce’s strong suit but he’s done fairly well now.

“Yes, like I said,” Tony continues, ruffling through some other papers, “fun!”

“So I’m thinking,”

“Make sure you do not hurt yourself, Man of Iron, thinking might give you a headache.” Loki mocks, his back is still turned on both Tony and Bruce and he’s typing new info on the data pads.

“We should go to the park!”

XxXxXxXxXx

“We should do _WHAT_?”

“The park, P-A-R-K, you know the place with the grass and the trees and the old ladies feeding ducks.”

“And the symbol of the Bifrost embedded in said grass, and you know, the huge crater Loki left when he was zapped to earth by the Tesseract?” Steve Rogers says, glaring at Tony. _Stark’s gone mad_ he thinks, and then, _we should have seen that one coming._

“No guys I’m serious! I have these awesome watches that will make us look like totally different people and Central park’s open again, they removed the symbol and the crater and all of that with huge donations given by Stark Industries of course, and we could like have this picnic or eat shawarma!”

“We’re not going to the park Tony” Bruce shakes his head.

“Okay not the park how about… the fair?”

“We’re not going to the fair either Stark!” Steve yells.

“What’s a fair?” Thor asks. Loki rolls his eyes.

“Why do you want to go someplace with useless shenanigans anyway, Man of Iron I-“

“The name’s Tony Stark, Locks.”

Loki frowns. “Locks?”

“Not important,” Steve interrupts, “what is, however is this: we’re not leaving this tower, are you out of your mind Stark? You want to put civilians in danger so you can go ride the ferries wheel?”

“We’re not endangering anyone, we’ll have these!” He’s somehow magically summoned up six wristwatches. “Courtesy of Stark Industries of course!”

“Those cheap cloaking devices will not shield you from Thanos.” Loki snaps, losing his patience, is this supposed to be a mortal adult? How old is this guy anyway?

“Excuse you, cheap? I put a lot of money and work in these babies!” Tony objects, waving his creations in front of Loki’s face. Everyone wants to protest some more but they can’t because Jarvis interrupts them all.

“Sir, Miss Pots is here.”

XxXxXxXxXx

“Anthony Edward Stark, how dare you cancel all my flights back to America!”

“Pepper?” Tony yells, rushing toward her, how dare he? How dare he lock her out and not tell her anything!

“Yes! Me! You left me stranded in Paris, cancelled all my attempts to take a plane back and then I hear on the news that there was some gas leak in Detroit, a very obvious lie made up by director Fury I’m certain and who is that?” She’s just noticed the boy standing next to Thor with a sullen expression on his face.  

“Pepper, hey- Pepper listen to me I can explain I swear!”

Realization hits her hard, she recognizes that face, even though it’s so different, it’s so much younger. “Is that Loki?”

Pepper turns around and stalks to the boy and seeing him stand there like that, makes her bold, she’s not afraid of him, because her anger is stopping her from that.

 “Are you the maniac god that gave Tony nightmares for MONTHS?! She asks, glaring at Loki, Thor looks like he wants to interrupt but Loki beats him to it.

The boy cocks his head to the side to look, past her at Tony and grins. “I gave you nightmares son of Stark?” he mocks.

The woman doesn’t look too pleased.

“You need to explain this to me now Tony!” she says, Pepper tries to make her initial anger sound through, through her voice but she can’t stop the confusion and fear from showing.

“Pepper, please, it’s hard to explain, with the Chitauri and Loki, I thought you’d be safer in Paris, I’m sorry I kept you in the dark I thought it was better if you didn’t know…” That’s the lamest excuse she’s ever heard.

“What?” her eyes go from Tony to Loki as if she’s not sure who she’s supposed to glare at.

“Why does he look like a child? Is this Loki?” she asks. Loki sighs like this is all tedious and nothing serious.

“I could explain everything to her with magic.” He drawls, “Then the healer and I could go back to research.”

“You mean you could mess with her head and probably make her think she’s a goat or something!” Tony bites, glaring at Loki.

“I wouldn’t!” Loki says in the most sincere way he can manage. Thor intervenes.

“You made a guard think Sif was in love with him and he ended up in the healing court for five days.”

“It WAS you who wanted me to ‘distract’ the guards.” Loki says smugly.

“I have a feeling we’re sidetracking here.” Tony says dryly. Loki turns around again.

“I solemnly swear that I won’t make her think she’s a goat.” Loki drawls, right hand at his heart like he’s saluting.

Pepper doesn’t like the way this conversation is going.

“Maybe she’d like some say in the matter.” Pepper states, glaring. The boy she just learned is Loki looks up at her and shrugs.

“It was a mere suggestion for this tiresome conversation to end faster.”

“No,” Pepper bites, “I want a nice long explanation telling me everything that I need to know.”

Loki narrows his eyes and for a moment he looks angry, but that moment is over as fast as it’s come and he scowls.

“You don’t need to know anything, in fact, everyone would be better off if I just wiped your memory and we’d be done with it.” Pepper wants to give a witty remark but she can’t, Loki’s already turned around.

“Healer Banner I think we can go back to doing useful things, like the research we _were_ doing before we were so rudely interrupted.”

Doctor Banner gets up awkwardly and follows Loki out of the room.

The other get the hint though, everyone leaves except Thor who doesn’t seem to get it until Tony literally pushes him out of the room.

XxXxXxXxXx

She has been waiting for the opportunity and now with everyone distracted with pepper Potts suddenly in the picture she knows it’s now or never. Agent Barton probably went up the roof, just like her he doesn’t like surprises and he likes to know what’s going on or what will be going on later, it’s one of the reasons he likes high places, people rarely look up and he has quite the view in high places. Chances are that he’s on the roof right now.

Thor is either plundering the kitchen or pacing once more, Steve… she doesn’t know what Steve’s doing right now. Not jogging that’s for sure.

Loki is walking with Bruce saying something about Clint’s arrows for some reason and she grabs the chance presented. She takes a hold of Loki and smiles apologetically at Bruce.

“I need to talk to him about something.” Bruce doesn’t look convinced.

“There are camera’s healer Banner,” she hears Loki say.

“And if I might add, I know how to defend myself from just one agent, I assure you.”

Bruce’s still not convinced but nods anyway.

The moment Natasha is one hundred percent sure he can’t hear them anymore she turns Loki around so he’s facing her, sort off, he’s still smaller.

“You lied.”

“You might want to be more specific, I lie quite a lot you see.”

“When you explained what was going to happen when Thanos attacks.”

Loki’s not smiling anymore, his face looks older again, tormented like it had looked back when he attacked earth months ago. His eyes turn sad for a moment before they light up again.

“That I did.” He smiles again like it’s no big deal.

XxXxXxXxXx

“You should have let me come back.” Pepper says.

Tony shakes his head, the thought of Pepper being there when the Chitauri attacked, he can’t stand it. Pepper is the love of his life, she’s put up with him when no one else would, she’s been there when the nightmares were too much and she’s the most amazing person he’s ever met, the thought of losing her because of what he does, because of who he is (for he is Iron Man), he cannot stand.

“You weren’t here when Loki attacked New York and you were fine with that.”

“No I wasn’t, Tony you can’t keep doing this to me.”

“What do you mean? I can’t keep you safe?”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.” Pepper takes a deep breath before continuing,  
“You can’t keep risking your life and expect me to be okay with that, Tony Iron Man is starting to be an obsession, how many suits have you made since the Battle of New York?”

“No don’t answer that,” she holds her hand up to stop him from making silly excuses she won’t believe anyway, “You think putting me on a plane when there’s danger is going to solve everything. Don’t you realize that every time you put on the suit I am the one who’s afraid. I’m not afraid for my own life Tony, I’m afraid that one day I’ll come back to an empty house that I will come back to that house knowing that you died and I was hundreds of miles away and I couldn’t stop it.”

“I understand that you can’t just stop, Tony that the world needs you but I need you too.” By the end of it she’s crying and Tony can see she hates herself for it but inside he’s crying too.

Pepper… he can’t lose her but it never occurred to him that maybe he already is, by putting on the suit and risking his life, by locking himself up in the lab for days, by shutting her out without wanting too but he needs her to be safe.

He takes her in his arms, he needs her to be safe just as she needs him to be alive by the end of the day.

XxXxXxXxXx

“Everything is ready, my liege.” The voice that speaks these words cracks, like the owner is afraid. He has good reason to be, the Mad Titan is losing patience, he’s waited for so long and his patience is wearing dangerously thin.

The Other is watching Midgard and silence reigns on the barren and pathetic excuse of a planet they stand upon. But it is merely calm before the storm.

“Prepare the command centers and mount the Leviathans, earth’s time is up.”

**Wow this chapter took a lot out of me, I had a major writer block there and I still have but I’m struggling to get this all right, I don’t know how many chapters are left but I’d say at least 5 probably more not more than 10 I’d say though if this gets enough reviews a sequel might be possible because I enjoy writing Kid!Loki so much.**

**XxTheAlgeaxX**

  


 

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just watched ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and man you wouldn’t believe how many ideas I have right now. Of course the plots of this fic is already set, the one for future ones though, isn’t. I’m also working on a new project that involves Teen!Loki and Teen!Thor and generally Teen!Everybody probably and it’s gonna be awesome and please tell me if you’d be interested in reading it, I will come up with a summary soon and I will probably cross-upload it with this. I’m not sure yet. Please people, I see you there, followers and favoriters and kudo-markers, if you’d just take the time to review, it doesn’t have to be much, it would mean a lot to me, updates would be faster, I’d feel a lot better about writing all of this.

_The attack came too soon and nobody had been prepared. Not for what had come._

“I am here live, just outside the city and it has been chaos, our view of the city is being blocked by a huge cloud of, of dust and all communication has been blocked. Is this the end of the world?”

The new reporter says. And then everything around them explodes and the only thing the people outside of New York can see, is a test screen on their television.

XxXxXxXxXx

“The suit is at twenty percent sir and dropping.” The robotic but very distinguishable voice of the A.I. Tony Stark named Jarvis says.

Tony only grunts at the moment he’s very busy not getting killed. Around him he can see Thor summoning his thunder and captain America throw his shield. He can see Clint firing arrows and Black Widow shooting aliens or stabbing them with their own weapons. He sees the hulk trample hundreds of those vile creatures with his feet. He can see that they are losing.

They keep coming, millions, Loki had been right, what had been sent a few months back, led by the very person they are now protecting had been _nothing_. A fraction of the power Thanos really possesses. The Leviathans had come with the dozen and even now they are still coming. Giant ships looming over the city, aliens, spreading rapidly, already they had seized the entire city. The attack had started literally two minutes ago. They will not last another two.

“Ten percent sir and dropping very rapidly.” Jarvis says. Tony normally has a plan, doesn’t he always but now, now he doesn’t. His blasters take care of maybe half of the aliens coming for him. He doesn’t need Jarvis to tell him how much power is left.

He wants to yell at Thor to summon some lighting but the Asgardian god of thunder is protecting his brother. The Asgardian God of Thunder is being overrun by the sheer number of foes. Behind him stands Loki, who does nothing. The Trickster God does nothing, he stands there, looking at the sky as if that holds all the answers. The sky only holds Chitauri warriors.

“Loki” he hears Natasha yell, “get back to Stark Tower now!”

But Loki does not move. He looks hypnotized. Almost peaceful. Around him people are screaming, people are dying but the tiny god-child stays still, like a statue.

“Thor!” Tony yells. And Thor gets the message. The thunder bolt that strikes the suit leaves Tony shaken.

“Three hundred percent capacity sir.” Jarvis says, almost sounding relieved.

Then Tony grabs Loki and flies him into the hands of the Black Widow before he’s taken down by the tail of a Leviathan and he hears Jarvis say something about a system failure.

XxXxXxXxXx

Natasha beheads a Chitauri five more take its place, it is even worse than Hydra.  
“Loki,” She shoots the five Chitauri before her and turns around running towards an enemy that is dangerously close to him, “get back to Stark Tower now!”

Loki doesn’t listen. Natasha does not have time for this, she takes the weapon from the closest Chitauri and shoots his comrades with it, their filthy blood splatters on the street and in her face, she sees Tony grab Loki and he throws the god-child in her arms. She doesn’t see what happens next because the next wave of Chitauri is coming.

“To soon.” She can hear Loki whisper, in a defeated way, “I didn’t finish the spell yet.”

The red-haired special agent blasts every single one of those aliens, leaving puddle of blood and smoking corpses on her path to Stark Tower, but she doesn’t even get there properly, suddenly it feels like the entire army has come down on her while it only a fraction, the weight crushes her and she lets go of Loki. She pushes him away as fast a she can. The Chitauri on top of her, reach towards their target but Natasha grabs its arm and breaks it with a swift motion, she wants to take Loki and run but the Chitauri, there are just too damn many of them, too damn many.

“Brother!” she hears Thor yell. “Brother!”

Suddenly a whistling sound is heard and it’s the only warning the Chitauri get before all of the ones around her and Loki and dead bodies, skewered by arrows, she doesn’t look up she looks at Loki. Thor stands before him and Natasha gets up trampling on the corpses of the dead aliens, behind Loki. From above Iron Man descends, his suit looks so damaged, part of the arm piece is gone, exposing burned flesh. The Hulk rages next to her ear and Steve Rogers throws his shield once more.

Everybody knows it’s futile.

They stand in a circle, united, and Natasha can’t help it. She smiles because of the irony. Barton is standing on the roof, he shoots an arrow with a ropes and slides down, killing Chitauri in the process.

 _Oh the irony,_ Natasha thinks, _we stand protecting the very man who tried to kill us all against the army of said man._

Said man, no boy, stands inside the circle and stares. There’s no way they can get him to Stark Tower now. All of them prepare to fight, one last time. They ready their weapons.

Only then do they all see and realize. The Chitauri have stopped attacking.

XxXxXxXxXx

“Give us the Trickster.” It is not Thanos who speaks, Clint recognizes the alien that is speaking, the Other.

“You fought well, Midgardian heroes but against the great Lord Thanos, you stand no chance.” Clint is not listening to this kind of crap, coming from an ugly alien holding the staff that took his mind. He draws his arm back and in one swift motion he shoots, of course the arrow doesn’t reach its target. Its target however, seems to be irritated now.

“Yield and my lord will give earth a glorious and swift death.” He spits.

Tony Stark opens his helmet and takes a ridiculous pose with his left hand on his hip and his right hand looks like it is holding a purse.

“That is a great offer dear but I’m afraid we must respectfully decline.” He says in a high-pitched voice.

“Maybe on another day? We’re _very_ busy you know, saving the world, catching some villains, I’ll take a look on my agenda and maybe we can squeeze you in.”

Clint snickers when the Other’s eyes widen in rage.

“How DARE you mock the almighty, the Overmaster, Thanos, He who will sacrifice you all to Death herself!”

“How do you even know Death’s a she, I mean for all you know Thanos is perfectly gay but don’t worry, that’s pretty legal, unless you wanna go to Russia. You wouldn’t want to freak out president Putin.” Tony says, shrugging.

A blast from the staff of the other almost hits him but Star manages to jump out of the way just in time.

“Your insults will get you nowhere mortal, if you do not give us the trickster we will kill every human in this city and beyond.”

“Well I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we’re the Avengers, we’ll get to you.”

The Other smiles.

“After we murder your entire race. Unlike the god in your midst we do not seek to rule this world.”

Tony shrugs and looks around for a second.

“Do we care?” he asks to them, then he turns back to the Other and spreads his empty arms.

“Look at the amount of shits we give,” he smiles, “look at them, we’re still stopping you, we’re still the Avengers.”

The other smiles back, a crooked smile, a sinister one that, if Clint hadn’t already seen much worse, would have made the shivers run down his spine.

“You are the _Avengers_?” he asks in a mock tone, “One of you is an impulsive and impudent _child_ who calls himself a god, two of you are not Avengers, they betrayed you,” Clint can almost feel those words like a stab from a knife, _they betrayed you_ , they had kidnapped Loki… They had been following orders. “Another is a monsters, makes play he is a man but he killed so many people, you are an arrogant Midgardian alcoholic who is losing, losing the game called _life_ and your captain. Your captain wishes he were somewhere-no sometime, else and would throw all of this away for his old life.” All of the words hit their marks, all of them are like swords, like knives being thrown at them and slicing them apart inside, hearing it from their _enemy_ makes it all the more humiliating because what he says, what the Other, servant of a mad titan says about them, the so-called heroes of this world, is true, all of it.

But Stark and Clint doesn’t know how he does is, doesn’t know where the fire comes from that is evident in his voice as he answers, in a low voice, with a face that for once doesn’t show sarcasm or mocking but sincerity.

“Yeah,” he says, nodding, “I’m not perfect, Thor’s not perfect, Bruce here,” he motions to the Hulk, “isn’t perfect, and Black Widow and Hawkeye aren’t either, not even Captain Rogers is perfect. But are you? Are you little miss perfect?” he mocks. The Other opens his mouth, ready to speak once more in that disgusting voice that breaks the words and makes them sound like nails on a chalkboard but Tony doesn’t let him, he continues talking.

“I did some things, some things I’m not proud of and Thor did some too probably, Bruce as well, hell even Captain America regrets some things he did in his life, we all do. Clint and Natasha, they’ve done some pretty terrible things as well, some even pretty recent but you know what? We’re standing here, we’re not doing those things anymore, we’re standing right here, where we belong, between you and earth. We’re here to protect it and if we can’t do that, we’ll avenge it. And everything you just said, that’s OUR business, how we handle things, how we look at certain people, you don’t get a say in that, in fact you don’t get to say anything anymore because we’re taking you and your stupid army _down_.”

XxXxXxXxXx

Pepper Potts hates this. She’s helping people, she’s guiding them away, as far as possible from that fight but she can’t help but worry. About Tony about all of them, the army that came down, she hadn’t been there, back when it was Loki who tried to kill them all but she is very certain it could have never been as bad as this. People all around her, screaming. Children yelling for their parents, children, being killed by monster, there’s chaos _everywhere_ around her stand an elite team of agents. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents they had tried to take her away from the city but they hadn’t been able to move here. She will stay where she is and she’ll help where she can and most she wants to run to the fight but she can’t. Not only are there alien soldiers blocking her way. There are giant monster, giant flying monsters destroying buildings. These monsters have blocked all exits but also all entrees. They are trapped.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents guide her to the cover of a building and she is forced to leave those people who only now realize that they can’t get away, she’s forced to watch while hundreds around her die, while one of those hundreds, can be Tony.

Then it stops. The aliens aren’t attacking anymore, they’re standing there, immobile and growling and spitting every so often but they don’t move. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents around her empty their guns but it just bounces of their armor. Some hit their target and a few Chitauri fall. But their comrades do nothing. The people on the street stand frozen.

“Get away!” Pepper yells, those people need to get away while it still can, “Run, find cover, run!”

It makes them move, they shake their head as if waking up from a dream and just when they’re about to move they stop, mid-movement.

That’s when she hears it, at first it is but a whisper, it sounds like the wind playing a trick on her, as if the sudden silence made her imagine a voice but soon she realizes it is not the wind. It _is_ a voice.

She doesn’t understand the words. She knows they are words though, somehow. For a single moment she gets the feeling that something is off. Around her everybody stands frozen even the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents but then that feeling is gone and she feel stupid for ever feeling something like that.

And yes, for some time, she doesn’t know how long but it feels like a very long time, it’s like there’s nothing wrong, like they’re not… they’re not…what? What are they again? There is something, there’s something happening but she can’t remember what.

She wants to look around, to see _what_ exactly it is that’s happening but she can’t. She can’t move her head, she can’t move her arms or legs but she can feel them. She can feel the wind on her skin, the sweat on her brow. Why is there sweat on her brow?

When it hits her, she feels it. And not like some sort of silly realization like she’s forgotten to call someone or she forgot to fill in some paperwork back at Stark Industry, no it’s like a giant wave, with the force of a truck. It feels like water does, why’s she’s standing there, but also who’s controlling her, what’s she’ll do next even though she doesn’t want to, it engulfs her, fills her nostrils, seeps into her, it feel like a disease gaining entrance.

She can feel her hand moving, her arm, her legs. She’s walking and she has no control whatsoever. She can see her movements , she can see and feel she’s walking but pepper Potts officially has no control over her body whatsoever and it should frighten her, it should make her panic and want to scream but she doesn’t.

A red-haired woman walks through the streets and next to her are hundreds of people, walking the same way thinking the same thing. It’s not a voice in their head it’s what they _want_.

_She wants to kill the Avengers_

XxXxXxXxXx

The Chitauri do not move but they are attacked nonetheless and the Avengers can do nothing but dodge them, their own kind. Loki doesn’t care, Loki doesn’t have the privilege to care.

He knows they are fighting, they are fighting the very people they want to protect and Loki _cannot_ care. The spell needed more time, spells as complicated as these always do. He had thought he’d have more time.

They are surrounded by mortals, it distracts him, he must complete the spell, this spell is so very vital.

_“And you’re a hundred percent sure this’ll work, spells don’t always work out the way they should.” Thor protests, Loki knows Thor is merely asking to stall, to perhaps, find a way to change their (or better yet his) mind but it won’t work. Thor must understand that there is no plan B because there are no other options._

_“It’ll take away my magic, It’ll strengthen my magical defenses enough to resist Thanos, to keep the Tesseract magic safe for 48 hours.”_

_“If a spell like this exists why not use it like the whole time, Thanos won’t get the Tesseract energy that way.” Thor says, he’s said this before, Loki’s also answered this before but he decides to keep dancing this dance._

_“It’s impossible to use all the time, it would drain me, it would kill me.”_

_“And the Tracker, the Tracker’s gonna work?” he says, turning to Stark. The mortal nods._

_“It’s made by ME of course it will, it’ll fall off when I say so.”_

_“Maybe you should know when to brother?” Thor says. Loki shakes his head._

_“It’s better if I don’t.”_

_“What if he tortures you Loki? I can’t-“_

_“He WON’T, the energy is too precious.” Loki snaps, this dance, this game they’re playing it’s wearing him down._

_“Everything will go like we planned it to go.”_

“You see?” Loki’s missed a part of the conversation too lost in his own thoughts.

“We will not kill your friends, your precious kin. They will kill each other. My master will make them want to kill _everyone_. They’ll laugh when they do it, they’ll even enjoy it. But first, as a little taste, they’ll want to kill _you_. Their heroes, their ‘Avengers’.”

More and more mortals join the fight and the Avengers can’t kill them. His brother knocks them out as best as he can, _everyone_ does but there are so many, at this rate, there won’t be any mortals left to save by the time this fight is over and somehow, even though Loki tries to convince himself he doesn’t care, he feels like he can’t let that happen. He doesn’t care about the mortals but he cares about Thor, yes that’s it. He doesn’t want Thor to suffer, to kill these Midgardians he so dearly loves.

The spell is as ready as it’ll ever be, he is now, as ready as he’ll ever be.

“Thanos!”

His voice is shrill, it is the voice of a child but Loki does not care.

“You send your dog to greet me, the one you want the most of all the Realms, I am offended, I am insulted. Come out!”

The Avengers try to turn around. To grab Loki and shut his mouth but they can’t, they’re a little busy right now.

The eyes of the Other glow a bright blue for a second and then a voice comes out of his mouth that is not his. The mortals who were attacking Earth’s Mightiest heroes freezes and their mouth open as well. Everywhere Thanos, the mad titan can be heard.

“Have you figured it out trickster god. That you cannot win, do you surrender?”

And Loki nods. And his brother yells but he’s stopped by mortals and they’re fighting again but Loki can’t look back.

The Other smiles, but it’s not the Other it’s his Master. Hands grab Loki’s body but Loki feels strangely numb. He’s signed himself up for a place, where Hell would seem like a holiday.

_“You lied.”_

_“You might want to be more specific, I lie quite a lot you see.”_

_“When you explained what was going to happen when Thanos attacks.”_

_Loki’s not smiling anymore, his face looks older again, tormented like it had looked back when he attacked earth months ago. His eyes turn sad for a moment before they light up again._

_“That I did.” He smiles again like it’s no big deal._

_“That spell is not for defense.”_

_Loki smiles stays on his face, eyes distant as if reliving a nice and happy moment._

_“No,” he admits, looking the Black Widow in the eye, “It’s for self-destruction.”_

_The woman frowns. “It’s to seal your magic.” And the woman knows, she knows that Loki is nothing without it. He won’t die, he’ll break down, he’ll go mad because magic is not like air. It’s like blood he needs it._

_“The signal.” She states but she doesn’t finish._

_“It is but an illusion, the signal will never break through.”_

_“Never.” She repeats._

_“Not in time.” Loki says._

_“Thanos won’t be able to get the Energy inside you. He won’t have any use for you anymore.”_

_Silence reigns over them. She is not shocked or afraid. He does not have the courage to think about it. He’s always been a coward. He’s never been brave, it’s always Thor. Thor is the Brave one. Thor is the mighty one and Loki is the coward, is the Lie-Smith, the Trickster God._

_“You’ll die.”_

_“That,” Loki starts walking again, “I most certainly will.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I didn't update for a long time for the simple reason that I am very disappointed in the amount of comments I got, I will try to continue for the people who want me to but you people, who want me to should comment if you want an update or I cannot know whether you're still interested or not


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments! As an answer to Cartlin: I am merely asking for comments b/c I thought no one was still interested and if no one is interested then I don't want to bore you all. Seeing as this chapter did get reactions here's the next one and perhaps later this week chap 17 will be up as well.  
> Also I'm sorry if the battles bore you, until chap 20 it's going to be the final showdown (aka battles) and afterwards it'll be aftermath but also a probable epilogue (or continuation of this story) probably introducing not only the winter soldier but also (SPOILER ALERT) the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.

_There’s so much blood, so much blood, it’s in his eyes, it’s in his mouth, the smell makes him want to puke, his eyes are filling with tears he can hear people scream, muffled sounds like someone’s thrown a plastic bag over his head. It feels like that, not that he’s ever had a plastic bag being shoved over his head but he thinks it would feel like this._

_He can’t breathe and he opens his mouth again and again but there’s no air to fill his lungs. It’s smoke and he knows somewhere deep down it’s from a fire because he can feel the heat. There’s so much heat and it almost blisters his skin. He doesn’t know what’s happening, They’re just driving, they’re sitting in their car, they’re going to something fancy. And then there’s only this._

_More people scream and he cranes his neck, he can see his brother, barely seven, he’s screaming and he’s crying and he’s kicking, it doesn’t matter where he’s kicking for him. Clint wants to yell too but he can’t even breathe let alone yell at his brother to STOP; he’s only making it worse. Clint’s five and he knows Barney’s making things worse._

_He’s still coughing but somehow the air’s gotten cleaner and now, with enough oxygen in his brain he can feel it. The Pain, the immense white hot searing pain, he looks down, screaming. There’s blood, his blood he doesn’t know it yet. Then. But it’s not only his blood that’s coating his legs and face. The Pain is too much it’s too much. He blacks out._

_He doesn’t feel the people’s hands on him. He doesn’t feel them laying him and his brother down on a stretcher. He feels it though when he wakes up and his leg hurts, it hurts so much and he can’t breathe and he can’t see. He blacks out then as well. Barney, he can just see Barney running towards him but darkness wins against the five-year-old easily._

_He feels it when he wakes up. And they tell him. Barney tells him. And the Pain, doesn’t matter anymore, he doesn’t feel it anymore because there’s another pain that’s taken its place and it’s much worse than anything physical could ever be._

_His parents are dead._

XxXxXxXxXx

The Seidr tries to gain access, to rip out what its user so dearly desires but even Thanos cannot undo magic like this. It feels like someone buries his hand in your body and then yanks it back out after playing with your organs for a while. The Mad Titan rages and growls, his frustration growing with every passing minute.

“Undo this magic Trickster.” He screams, but Loki doesn’t answer and the hand comes again and impales his body like it’s nothing. Loki screams, Loki’s hasn’t stopped screaming since he arrived here. Loki’ll probably die screaming like this and he knows it.

The Hand, the Seidr fights but it does nothing. The spell Loki made, can only be undone by one person. Loki himself. Even the Mind gem cannot make him.

Thanos withdraws his hand but Loki doesn’t stop screaming, he’s screaming and wailing and his limbs are shaking, the restrains have cut unto his wrists and ankles, blood drips to the ground or is thrown against a wall because of his struggling.

The Mad Titan takes a step back, grabs his closest underling and takes his weapon, the pointed front gleams, the pointed end is driven inside Loki and the screaming finally stops. It’s changed to choking, the sound of a man/boy drowning in his own blood. It spills from his mouth his eyes wide before the struggling stops.

“Take him away.” Thanos voice booms in the cave.

Two Chitauri proceed, one yanks out the weapon still embedded in the child’s mid-section and they both carry him away. Any mortal would have died. Loki is no mortal but he wishes he was. He wishes death would come so easily.

XxXxXxXxXx

“Clint, Clint!”

A voice is screaming next to his ear and the archer immediately shoots upright, knife in his hand, ready to strike. Natasha stands next to his bed, without blinking not even the least bit scared or impressed with the guy in pajama’s who’s threatening her with a small knife.

“You were screaming.” She says, her face doesn’t betray a thing. Clint shakes his head.

“A nightmare again?”

“This one was different.” Is the answer. He puts his face in his hands for a moment before he continues.

“I haven’t had this one since… since forever.” There’s no answer but he never expected one anyway.

“This wasn’t about New York.” He says. Agent Romanoff doesn’t react.

XxXxXxXxXx

How long had it been? It feels like years yet Loki knows that cannot be possible. On the other hand, he does not now where he is, time could very well move different here, in the Void, in this emptiness no one ever dared to enter. In this cave, in this cell, it’s cold, it’s so cold but Loki can’t shiver anymore. At first he would have thought his Frost Giant nature would have protected him but it would seem that there were other rules besides time in the Void as well.

There are no shackles that bind him but there are none needed, the Trickster is weak, has always been weak actually. Loki is starting to forget, why is he here again? The Mad Titan keeps asking him to give up and stop the spell but Loki, Loki, the three-hundred-year-old God does not know how anymore. He feels the spell of course, it binds him and sometimes he has trouble believing that he himself cast it, it is torture in itself. Never in his life has his magic been like this, so close and yet so far. He needs his magic and he can’t reach it, no matter how hard he tries, no matter how hard he wants it, every attempt has been futile. And he can feel it dimming already, that constant flow that’s _always_ been present but isn’t right now. With his magic he can feel himself slowly fading away, he knows this spell will take long, there is no other way.

There are voices in his head. Not one but many and he doesn’t recognize all of them. Sometimes he can hear himself, his older self, whispering in his ear, telling him to do horrible things, telling him that the world deserves it and corrupting his thoughts. Sometimes he hears his brother, yelling at him to stop.

_You give up this pointless dream!... You come home._

_Look at this! Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?_

_It's too late. It's too late to stop it._

_Who controls the would-be king?_

_Did you mourn?_

_We all did_

Sometimes he hears himself, his own voice.

‘Liar, liar, liar, you didn’t mourn, Father didn’t mourn, YOUR father didn’t mourn.”

_The Casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?_

‘No, no it wasn’t.’

_So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me?_

_Why do you twist my words?_

‘You lied to me, everyone LIED to me!’

_You know, it all makes sense now, why you favored Thor all these years, because no matter how much you claim to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!_

‘I am a monster, you are a monster because they LIED to us. They KNEW and they lied.’

‘You’ll never be as good as Thor. You’ll never amount to ANYTHING. We stand in his shadow, You and I.’

Loki giggled. Pain flared up in his chest, his small form winced and shook and giggled at the same time, spasms running over his small body.

‘You and I, You and I, Loki and Loki, I, us, we!’

When his captor come in his cell to get him for another torture session they hear him giggle, this small Midgardian-looking boy and he sings and he snickers and he whispers.

“You and I, You and I, Loki, do you hear me? It’s You and I, You and I…”

XxXxXxXxXx

_“Look at the freak and his freak brother.”_

_They try to ignore it._

_“They say you killed them you know?”_

_Barney pushes Clint away, he’s only 8, Barney’s 10 and the other children they’re much much older._

_“Did you?”_

_“Kill your parents I mean?”_

_“You know what I think?”_

_“Wanna know that huh? I think you wanted that accident to happen.”_

_Four of them, always four, the others don’t look they shrink into themselves. Clint knows they’re cowards, he knows he can’t expect anything from them._

_“Leave him alone.” Barney bites._

_They don’t._

_When they get back to the orphanage no one says anything. The woman who are supposed to take care of him. Of his brother, turn their backs at the two bleeding boys._

_“You’re late.” One of them snaps, grabbing Clint’s wrist, another woman grabs Barney and the two brothers cling to each other but the women are still stronger._

_The dream shifts to something he knows all too well._

_“You stupid little SHIT!”_

_SMACK_

_Barney stumbles back and his frightened little brother sits under the table, trembling._

_Please stops, please stop, please-_

_His mantra is interrupted when his brother’s body comes flying toward the table Clint is hiding under. He scrambles away as fast as he can but his brother still hits him and he can see stars for a moment._

_Barney grabs him and pushes him away from their father but Clint stumbles and falls. Their father rages on, throws bottles at both his sons in anger Barney tries to protect him. Bottle after bottle hits his brother and the glass that breaks off cuts Clint too as he tries to run away._

_“You think you can just take MY money? Steal from ME?” their father yells. Clint reaches for the door and wants Barney to come with him but his brother isn’t coming, he pushes his younger sibling through the door and slams it shut._

_Clint’s attempts at opening the door and grabbing his brother are futile and even when he finally gives up and runs to his room he can still hear the crashing sounds and the screaming._

XxXxXxXxXx

It’s been two days. Loki had said the signal would’ve broken through but it hasn’t. The only one who doesn’t want to see the facts is Thor. Of course it’s Thor, who still hasn’t given up on his brother yet. Who refuses to believe that maybe, maybe his brother is dead already.

When the Mad Titan finally acquired what he wanted so dearly he had stopped his attack. He hadn’t relinquished his control over the mortals though. Tony Stark, the Invincible Iron Man has lost his mortal girlfriend, Pepper Potts and never has Thor seen him so angry, so driven to destroy the Mad Titan.

He keeps enhancing his machines in the hope of receiving the signal of the transmitter they sent in with Loki, it does nothing. It doesn’t even beep, Stark too does not want to believe everything is lost.

S.H.I.E.L.D. has retreated, has gone back into its shell and even agent Romanoff and Barton are cut off. The world is preparing to at least fight when the end comes.

Captain Rogers tries to make the team of superheroes believe but it’s obvious to all of them, even to Thor that he doesn’t really believe all of this will have a happy ending.

Thor should have never allowed his brother to be captured, he should’ve fought more, should’ve protected his little brother but instead he had chosen this, doomed, this, failed plan that will damn them all. Every hour that has passed by he’s yelled at the sky. Yelled at Heimdall to open the Bifrost, yelled at the All-Father to bring him back to Asgard but no one answers him and never, not even in his banishment, has he felt as alone as he does right now.

When they are holding to umpteenth meeting once more Thor is staring at the empty space in front of him. Captain America keeps suggesting awful plans. Bruce Banner is in the lab and doesn’t come out. Tony does come out for meetings where he doesn’t pay attention to any of them and does two things: he order Jarvis to do things in the lab, and he drinks. A lot. Romanoff’s face is always blank, like she’s not feeling anything, like she’s not even there. Thor wants to yell at her. He still hasn’t forgiven her and he doubts he ever will. Barton… Thor doesn’t look at him. He doesn’t know how to think about him. It was Loki who took this man’s mind, who opened up his head and did as he pleased with it. Thor cannot imagine what he would do if someone did something like that to him. If he had to kill people, to slaughter his own people under the control of a lunatic. But what he did… to Loki, Thor cannot forgive him for that either.

Thor only looks at Barton a few times, most of them by accident and when he does, he sees the bags under his eyes. The haunted look in them but also a strange sort of anger. He looks even worse than when he was under Loki’s mind control but honestly Thor couldn’t care less about him.

“You haven’t been successful at contacting Asgard yet Thor?”

Captain America asks for the millionth time.

“No I have not, Captain, else I would not be sitting here.” Thor says, also for the millionth time.

“Isn’t there another way than the Bifrost?”

“There are but only one person knows where those are.”

“Loki.” Captain Rogers sighs.

“Not this one.” Thor bites, somehow he feels the need to defend his brother.

“Look Thor, I understand-“

“NO! Captain Rogers, do not presume to know me or my brother!”

“That’s not-“

“The signal will break through, Loki-“

“NO THOR!” the shout doesn’t come from Steve, it comes from Tony, he stands up and stalks to the thunder god, who in turn stand up as well.

“Your brother TRICKED US. That signal will never break through and for all we know all of this was a set-up, a mind game designed by your lunatic brother. Don’t you get it Thor?” Iron man throws the pad he’s been holding in his hands for the last two days on the ground and it shatters.

“We’re fucked and we’re all gonna die because we trusted the enemy!”

The outburst leaves Tony exhausted, the sound of his labored breath fills the room.

And then the broken pad, that lies on the ground starts beeping and Jarvis tells them why.

“An unknown signal is coming in and it looks similar to the energy signature of the Bifrost sir.”

XxXxXxXxXx

_“See, I told you, you’ve got talent.”_

_The man grins down at Clint. He feels bad for Barney because the Swordsman doesn’t want his brother as an assistant for some reason. Trick Shot nods._

_“He’s got talent alright but I’m still the one he owes it to.” He drawls._

_The Swordsman ignores Trick Shot and smiles._

_“This sure is gonna pay off in my act.”_

_“Don’t forget!” Trick Shot snaps. “You forget my debt to you, you forget the money I owe you for this!”_

_The swordsman nods and waves the archer off._

_“Of course that was, after all the deal.”_

_It continues like this for a while and Clint can honestly say he’s quite happy in the Circus. Barney… Barney has troubles, Clint knows his brother’s angry because the Swordsman didn’t want him to be his assistant even though barney’s older and it has caused some heated arguments and quite some fights but overall, it’s much better than the orphanage. Clint misses his brother though, he misses the time he and Barney would play together, he misses the bond they had and are now, slowly but steadily losing. He’s been trying to get barney to talk to him, asked the Swordsman if he couldn’t recommend his brother to someone but Barney doesn’t want to talk and the Swordsman just rudely says he couldn’t care less._

_Lately, the swordsman has been on edge now that he thinks about it. He’s been snapping a lot too. Clint doesn’t really mind, he doesn’t hit him when it’s not necessary and it’s much better than his father._

_It’s after one of the performances and since Clint joined the Swordsman in his act, it had become increasingly more popular. The young teen makes his way to his tent when he hears someone curse. He frowns, it comes from the main tent where the leader of the circus lives and he sure as hell knows that’s not the leader at all. He’s just seen him in the dressing rooms talking to the knife throwers, so who the hell is in his tent? Clint silently creeps to the tent and peeks through a small hole in the tent._

_The young boy stumbles back in shock, his feet are uncoordinated and without realizing it he slams against a small bench and it falls with a loud BANG._

_When the swordsman hears the bench fall he whirls around, the bag he has in his hand, full of stolen money is clenched tighter in his fists and he storms forward. Clint scrambles back, trying to get away before he can see him but it’s too late._

_The Swordsman eyes widen when he sees his assistance scrambling away but he doesn’t hesitate one second. He grabs Clint, pulls him off the ground and shakes him hard._

_“What are you doing here?” he hisses, his face dangerously close to Clint’s._

_Clint is paralyzed, he can feel the terror and adrenaline in his body but he’s frozen and he wants to answer but he doesn’t. He feels a weird sort of numbness suddenly when the situation really starts to get to him. His mentor, is stealing money from the circus that took his brother and him in when no one else would and suddenly he can move his lips again._

_“You were stealing money.” He hears himself say._

_The Swordsman’s eyes narrow._

_“You didn’t see anything.” He snaps but Clint can feel the adrenaline again and with it his boldness increases as well._

_“I saw everything, I’m going to tell everyone!” He struggles from his grip and tries to get free but the Swordsman is still stronger. His former mentor growls and throws him on the ground but he doesn’t give Clint time to gasp for breath, his boot  buries itself in his stomach and with another kick he makes the boy roll on his back. Clint tries to back away again but his former mentor grabs him again and throws him away._

_Then come the punches, he punches everywhere but especially his head. Clint can feel his nose break with a loud CRACK and he sees stars. Black edges creep into his vision, blood seeps out of his mouth and nose and just when he thinks the Swordsman is going to kill him, his attacker is pulled off of him._

_He swears he can see Trick Shot and his brother standing over him just before he loses consciousness._

XxXxXxXxXx

“Loki.”

The small demi-god on the ground barely stirs. He doesn’t care anymore, everyone inside his head is screaming at him, insults and swearing. They force him to relive memories he doesn’t even remember, he doesn’t even recognize them but they throw them at him anyway. They are horrible memories, they are about suffering and they are always dark but sometimes he can see himself and Thor again. His OWN memories, he lives for those moments that he can squeeze a good memory in his head but they never last long.

“Loki.”

Maybe it’s just another voice in his head, maybe it’s the Mad Titan again, playing a trick on the Trickster. He’s seen Thor storm through that door over a hundred times. At first when he really believed it, he dreamt they defeated Thanos, he hallucinated that they won and celebrated but when Thor asks him to break the spell he remembers again: Thor barely knows anything about the true nature of his spell, he wouldn’t ask. Then when that stopped working, he sees Thor storming through that door and Thanos appears and rips him apart. Or takes him prisoner and forces Loki to watch. Sometimes he can even see his mother, pleading, begging to stop but He doesn’t stop.

Or he sees the Frost Giants, dying, screaming when a beam of light hits their planet and he hears Odin’s voice, the All-Father’s voice.

_No_

But the screaming doesn’t stop.

“Loki.”

The screaming stops. His mind is clear again, silence, pure and blissful. Loki looks up and at first he thinks it’s another trick. But he _knows_ it isn’t, no one, not even the Mad Titan, can manage an illusion like her. Loki smiles sadly.

“Hela.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If something is unclear please, please, please tell me. I have all these plot point in my head but I forget whether or not I put them in the story already!  
> If I have time ch 17 might be up tomorrow or monday!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter! Violence, Blood, gore, murder, mind control, etc.  
> PLEASE mind the warnings I didn’t put them there for nothing, this chapter is gonna be dark (like the previous one, maybe even darker)  
> Late I know I'm sorry!

“Who the fuck are you?” Tony Stark bites while he points all of his weapons in the general direction of the very big guy in armor who really really needs a bath, he smells like dead animals.

Around him the Avengers stand, also pointing their weapons at the stranger who had appeared out of nowhere and Tony swears to god _if this is another supervillain he’s gonna grab that spear he holds and shove it up his freakin’-_

His lovely thoughts are interrupted when it’s Thor who answers the previously asked question.

“Tyr?”

The guy (Tyr apparently, who the fuck is Tyr?) turns around to look at Thor.

“Thundergod.” He acknowledges, he blatantly ignores the rest of them.

Thor takes a step towards Tyr, Mjolnir in his hand.

“Why are you here?”

“On the orders of my mistress.” Tyr grumbles, looking not too pleased.

“On the orders of your who now?” Tony asks, he lands as soft as he can and looks at Tyr skeptically and then he removes his mask so Tyr can see him looking skeptically.

“Hela.” Thor breathes. Tyr nods, ignoring Tony once again.

“Look I don’t care whose orders you’re following, you’re wasting my time.” Tony barks. He can see from the corner of his eye that Bruce is turning back into his normal, less green self.

Thor doesn’t lose eye contact with the lap dog of this Hela.

“You do not know what you’re talking about Stark, if Hela has joined the fight you better pray it is our side she prefers.”

“Thor? How about a little more explanation. Who’s this guy exactly and who’s Hela?” Steve says, lowering his shield and motioning the two assassins to do the same.

“I am Tyr.” Finally this stupid came-out-of-nowhere-guy is talking to them!

“I am Tyr of the Battles, the First General of Hela of the Norns, Mistress of the Darkness,  who rules over the dead in the Realm of Helheim.”

On another occasion Tony would’ve made a witty remark like _that sure is a mouthful_ , but not now. Pepper is in danger, he knows it, she’s in the control of a lunatic who wants to kill _everyone_.

“She rules over the Dead? _She’s the one that lunatic wants to court?”_ Tony exclaims alarmed.

Tyr whirls around, spear and sword at the ready.

“How dare you compare Hela, Queen of Death to that abomination!” he yells.

“Hey! How am I supposed to know huh? All I know is that Thanos wants to court someone who rules over de dead, kinda like your mistress!” Tony snaps, putting his mask back on and pointing his blaster to Tyr again.

“Why are you here Tyr?” Thor asks impatiently he does not have time for this.

“I am here to offer you a portal to Asgard.”

XxXxXxXxXx

“I grow tired of this game Trickster.” Thanos almost purrs, it doesn’t suit him.

“That makes two of us.” Loki manages to spit out before another knife is plunged into his body, the acid that covered it burns his skin away, it eats at him until it finds bone.

“And I honestly did not think it would come to this but you left me no choice.”

He continues as if never interrupted, another scream is torn from the boy, hanging limply in his chains.

The Other comes forward but Loki doesn’t notice, his hair is hanging in front of his eyes, like a curtain and sweat glistens on his brow. The second-in-command hands Thanos the scepter, the Mind Gem that glows blue and illuminates the cave makes the shadows seem all the more deeper.

Loki almost smiles even through the pain of the hot iron they’ve pressed into his skin.

“I know the Mind Gem is not powerful enough to break your little spell but I have a spell of my own.” Thanos grabs one of the Chitauri torturing Loki and breaks its neck, without even hesitating he rips its spine out and breaks it in two. The Other cuts Loki’s chains away and he falls limply to the floor, too weak to move.

He looks down and sees his blood not in a puddle but in a pattern, forming a circle with symbols he knows all too well. Everyone knows those symbols, especially Loki. He’s seen those symbols in books about dark magic, Ancient Magic from the Time before Time, about Forbidden Magic.

“I am assuming you’re familiar with these symbols, they, after all, are the key to unleashing the geð nema.”

_Geð nema, the Mind Taker._

He tries to move, to scramble away from the circle but then he is forced down and the bones of the now dead Chitauri pierce through his shoulders like knives, he can hear the breaking of more bone, the ripping and tearing sound of flesh.

Two more spines are added, they break through his stomach and legs like it’s nothing and slowly he loses consciousness with pain ripping through his entire body, like white hot flames and when the chanting begins he feels like he’s being boiled alive before he finally blacks out.

XxXxXxXxXx

_“You could come with me you know.” Barney says. Clint looks down, avoids his brother’s gaze._

_“To the army?” he asks._

_Barney nods even though Clint can’t see him._

_Clint shakes his head. Why would he leave the Circus? The Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders had saved them right?_

_Barney grits his teeth and Clint almost flinches but he doesn’t, they’re both adults now, they have to go their own way right? And if Barney’s way is enlisting in the army and Clint’s isn’t, well that’s just how it’s supposed to be right?_

_“The offer still stands.” Barney says, “If you change your mind, I’ll wait for you.”_

_Clint did change his mind, later but he had been too late, the bus had already left by the time he got to the bus depot. Clint didn’t see his brother after that for a long time._

XxXxXxXxXx

The Vanir warrior underneath him struggles but to no avail, never, ever in his life has he felt this powerful, the magic, the energy it cackles around him and he throws his head back and laughs, this is the best sensation he’s ever had in his life. Never will he feel helpless and alone again, never will he be abandoned by the ones he loves again because he doesn’t need them anymore.

He doesn’t need Thor, his stupid not-brother, why would he need _HIM_ when he has all of this power so graciously given to him by Thanos?

Why, he will never need his false family again! He’ll destroy everyone that gets in his way, he’ll kill the Family of Odin and he’ll show the world who they really should fear. Thanos and himself, why hadn’t he just given in to the mad Titan’s wishes before?

Together they can make the very foundations of this pathetic world quake, they will bring about a battle so full of death that Ragnarok won’t be necessary anymore because everyone will be dead already!

Far away, in the fields and the capital of Vanaheim itself the battle wages, everywhere there are screams of dying Vanir. Around him lay dead, mutilated bodies, blood is splattered everywhere, it drips from the walls. He’s taken out a whole squadron.

When the pathetic soldier underneath him screams at him he smiles.

The Vanir tries to use his magic but he can’t, he’s stuck and he spits in his enemy’s face.

“My people will avenge me, Loki Liesmith.”

His grin spreads even more. He lifts his hand in the air and plunges it deep inside the Vanir’s chest, blood spurts from the now gaping hole he’s made with his bare hand and the sheer power of his magic.

“Loki?” he whispers as the lights in his victim’s eyes slowly extinguish and his own green ones glow brighter with bloodlust and the power of geð nema only strengthens, “Loki isn’t home right now.”

XxXxXxXxXx

_“Who are you?”_

_“I am agent Phil Coulson but we’re not here to talk about me.”_

_Clint narrows his eyes._

_“We’re here to talk about you, Clint Barton. Or do you prefer Hawkeye these days?”_

_If this man thinks he’s intimidated by that he’ll be gravely disappointed._

_“If you know who I am then why aren’t you killing me huh?” Clint taunts, leaning back in the interrogation chair._

_“The way I see it, there’s no need to. How old are you? Twenty? That’s a bit young to be an assassin.”_

_“Whoever said you had to be old to be one?” Clint shrugs._

_“You want to know what I think, mister Barton?” the agent leans closer._

_“I think you don’t want to murder people for the rest of your life. You know we’ve done some digging. The Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders?”_

_He pauses for a moment._

_“And you unfortunate association with the notorious Black Widow and before that, trick Shot?”_

_How do they know so much about him? It’s none of their business, he’s about to tell them that but the agents shakes his head curtly and leans back again._

_“Now, everybody else thinks I’m crazy but I believe you deserve a second chance.” Clint almost scoffs at that. He tried that, it only ended badly for him._

_“So I’ll give you a choice. You can either take that chance and do something good for this world, do the right thing.”_

_The agent stands up._

_“Or I can arrest you right now and lock you up for the rest of your life.”_

XxXxXxXxXx

He is no longer a body, he’s an essence lost and drifting, confined in the glass cage that is the Mind Gem. Loki tries to focus on his magic, on the magic inside his prison but he forgets he is no longer Loki. He is no longer someone.

Sometimes he is overwhelmed by sudden burst of emotions and feelings, he can feel his hands, warm and dripping blood, he can feel the spasms of a dying man underneath him, he can hear the screams of people the death cries of others. Sometimes the emotions he feels are so real that the line between his body and himself is beginning to blur.

The anger and the satisfaction from a fresh kill, they are so real at times.

But then he’s is yanked back to reality and he is ashamed of his thoughts, how can he even think about killing so many people and enjoying it?

His predicament is torture itself, he cannot feel anything except the occasional glimpses that make him hate himself. The glimpses are becoming longer though and the longer they are the more he is convinced it’s right. He tries to fight it he tries to reason with himself, this is Blood Magic, it’s the Curse that’s making him do this. He knows he can only fool himself for so long.

It won’t be long before his true free will has faded away and what rests will be merged with the monster that is now set free on the Nine Realms. It won’t be long before he will _want_ to be that monster. The Mind Taker, the geð nem, will slowly break away all of his defenses and reform his essence, his being into what its caster wants.

A puppet in the hands of a psychotic puppeteer.

XxXxXxXxXx

“Then what are you waiting for?” Tony yells.

“Get us to Asgard!”

“Be silent you ignorant mortal!” Tyr bellows.

Thor advances on Tyr and grabs his shoulder, in a way that suggests they have known each other.

“Hela’s portals are unpredictable.” Thor says, looking Tyr in the eye.

“What do you mean ‘unpredictable’?” Bruce asks, wringing his hands together nervously.

“For the dead, time moves differently, they don’t care about days or years or millennia.” Thor says.

Tyr nods and takes a step back to distance himself from Thor.

“If you go through the portal there is almost no way of knowing _when_ you’ll get to Asgard.”

Tony’s mouth falls open.

“You mean we could very well arrive a few millennia too late?” he snaps.

Tyr growls.

“You arrogant insect! Do not underestimate the power of Hela!” he shouts.

“Tony.” Steve whispers to him.

“Let’s let the gods who actually know what they’re talking about do the talking, yeah?”

Tony quickly nods when he sees Tyr almost advance on him again. If this is what it takes to get Pepper back, to listen to this half-dead maniac then fine he’ll listen.

“At most, it will be a few days. Probably a few hours.” Tyr grumbles.

Everyone knows what this means, they have two options: either they wait for the signal and risk never receiving it or go through the portal and arrive too late to stop anything, even if they arrive just a few hours too late everything could still be lost.

And somehow even though Steve’s the leader everyone looks at Thor. Thor has to make this decision.

“We go through the portal.” Thor says.

The words aren’t even cold when the portal opens and sucks them all in.

XxXxXxXxX

_“I never thought a bow and arrow could be such an asset to an organization like S.H.I.E.L.D.” Coulson jokes when he sees Clint train._

_“I never thought I’d be working for an organization like S.H.I.E.L.D.” Clint grunts while he shoots his last arrow from the ceiling._

_Coulson smiles when Clint turns to face him._

_“It’s a good thing then, that not all of our thoughts turn out to be right.”_

_Clint almost smiles as well but he stops himself. Can’t let Coulson think he’s sentimental can he?_

XxXxXxXxXx

Everyone had been picturing the worst case scenario. No one’s worst case scenario was as bad as it actually is. The once golden realm, the once Realm Eternal, has been reduced to almost nothing, the walls that protected Asgard are broken to the ground, like they had never even stood there in the first place.

There are Chitauri everywhere, they swarm the city and only know does everyone realize where they’re coming from. They are coming from the _inside_ of Asgard.

Thor roars and swings his hammer before he shoots away to the palace leaving the Avengers behind.

“I guess since some of us can’t fly we’ll have to go by foot.” Captain America tries to joke. No one laughs but they do follow him when he storms to what’s left of the gates, to the palace.

XxXxXxXxXx

_The building is going to collapse soon but still Clint hasn’t found him. Trick Shot. He runs to the closest room and he’s just in time, the ceiling of the hallway collapses behind him, trapping him here. The flames keep licking at his heels and their heat almost makes his skin blister, sweat gleams on his naked arms and he licks his dry lips._

_He looks around, the smoke making it almost impossible to see or breathe properly, it’s instinct that saves his life. An arrow comes out of nowhere and Clint manages to dodge it but only just. It buries itself in the wall and catches fire very fast._

_The assassin turned agents quickly crouches and keeps going. He’ll kill Trick Shot and be done with this, he’ll severe the last ties he has to his past._

_Suddenly the smoke clears for a moment and Clint takes the opportunity presented to him. He shoots, his arrow hits the mask instead of the face and the person falls._

_His mask slides of his face and it’s not Trick Shot that lies there unconscious, surrounded by flames. It’s Barney._

_And then the ceiling collapses on both of them._

XxXxXxXxXx

Thor knows his priority is going to the palace, but everywhere he sees fighting but also burning. People Asgardian families are murdered, they are screaming, children are crying as they see their parents fall.

The Thunder God cannot ignore them he cannot ignore his people, he dives towards the ground and lands in the middle of a squadron of Chitauri, his feet squash two in his landing.

The Chitauri attack him again with their guns but Thor deflects them with Mjolnir before he cracks their skulls open with the same instrument. He hears the Einerjahr screaming:

“FOR ASGARD!” as they drive their spears into Chitauri warriors. Vaguely he can hear his Midgardian friends fight as well, he looks up and sees Tony Stark attacking a Leviathan at least three times bigger than the one they had encountered at earth.

Bruce Banner has turned into the Other Guy and smashes a dozen Chitauri in one go. Thor turns around, his friends will take care of this when he sees it, a green light, much alike a lighting strike but longer.

It’s so close to the palace it scares him. The Thunder God swings his arm once more and throws himself to the palace, something is not right.

Underneath him he can see that the Einerjahr are having problems, they are slowly but steadily pushed back and Thor almost goes back down to help them when a new portal opens. At first he thinks that it’s just more enemies, more Chitauri ready to attack Asgard but then he sees that these new people are attacking the Chitauri.

When the familiar wave of Seidr can be seen from the battle and Thor finally recognizes their leader. Frey who leads theLjósálfar, he is surrounded by Light Elves with bow and arrow and few Vanir.

He lands quickly at their battleground and holds his head high as he greets the Ruler of Alfheim.

“Lord Frey, Asgard thanks you for your aid during this battle!” He says but Frey just rips a Chitauri head off and throws it at Thor’s feet, anger etched in his face, together with hatred.

“Vanaheim has fallen.” His voice is full of hatred but also sounds lost.

“Alfheim will not stand and watch the World end.”

But Thor can see he has only taken a small force of Ljósálfar with him. This decision was not made by Alfheim but by its ruler, nonetheless he is grateful. Thor bows his head.

“Asgard will not forget this Lord Frey.”

And then he turns around and flies away until that same green light captures his attention once more.

He dives towards it and when he lands he can see someone fighting the Einerjahr. Green light blinds them all and then Thor can see that the last Einerjahr falls, blood splattering everywhere even on Thor who stands a few feet away. He can feel the warm blood on his face and the body of the soldier falls.

And his murderer stand tall and proud and laughs and Thor recognizes that psychotic laugh before he recognizes the person standing there. The small boy.

“Loki.”

The boy turns around and opens his arms as if to invite him for a hug.

“Yes, brother?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again if there’s something not clear please tell me! Also tell me what you think? I’m basing most of my characters on the comics with slight alterations for the story of course. In the comics Frey is Vanir but he rules over the Ljósálfar (Light Elves and ice Elves in Alfheim). I thought he wouldn’t just watch his own people die and do nothing about it. Also the part where Loki/Not-Loki kills the Vanir is in the battle for Vanaheim, that the Vanir obviously lost. The only thing you really need to understand is that there’s war everywhere in the Nine Realms all thanks to our dear friend Thanos.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ATTENTION READ THIS!
> 
> THE END OF THIS PART OF THE STORY IS IN SIGHT I NEED TO KNOW WHETHER YOU GUYS WANT ME TO END THIS STORY AND MAKE A SEQUEL OR CONTINUE THIS STORY AS A THREE-PART STORY
> 
> IF THERE IS NOT ENOUGH OR NO REACTION THEN THE CLIFFHANGER OF CHAPTER 20 WILL STAY THAT WAY UNTILL I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT ( BELIEVE ME YOU IT’S A BIG ONE)
> 
> a BIG SHOUT OUT for the people who DID review: you are the best people in the world and I want to hug you all! The Great Battle for Asgard is beginning and Loki is on the wrong side heheh, enjoy!!

_“Loki.”_

_The screaming stops. His mind is clear again, silence, pure and blissful. Loki looks up and at first he thinks it’s another trick. But he knows it isn’t, no one, not even the Mad Titan, can manage an illusion like her. Loki smiles sadly._

_“Hela.”_

_There is no acknowledgement that she has heard him reacting, like a statue she stands there, proud and tall._

_“Why are you here?” his voice sounds weak even to his ears, Hela would never just come here for no reason. He’s never had many experiences with the Goddess of the Dead, the only ones he’s had weren’t particularly pleasant. Of course they hadn’t been necessarily unpleasant either._

_“I have my reasons.” She says, he appearance is obviously an illusion, it is flickering and Loki can feel the seidr, it makes him sick. It feels like being dehydrated and right next to stands someone with more water than you could ever imagine, the familiar feeling of this seidr is torture on its own._

_Loki cannot help himself._

_“Would those reasons have anything to do with your rivalry with Mistress Death?”_

_He can feel her anger at his words and somehow her ire makes him feel better._

_“That abomination is nothing.” She spits before regaining her composure._

_“I am here to propose a deal.”_

_A deal. A deal brought him into this mess, it would seem a deal would help him get out of it._

_“And what, pray tell me, would be the price of this deal?” Loki knows he’ll accept the deal, doesn’t matter at what cost, he’ll find a way out of this deal like he’ll find a way out of the one he is currently in._

_Hela knows this too of course. She shrugs nonchalantly, a gesture that does not fit her._

_“You will simply owe me something, I suppose Trickster.” She smiles._

XxXxXxXxXx

“Loki.”

The boy turns around and opens his arms as if to invite him for a hug.

“Yes, brother?”

Loki keeps his arms open and the smile on his face widens when he sees the face of his not-brother. Thor, the Thunder god, the Golden Prince of Asgard shall fall by the hands of Loki Laufeyson, how iconic that will be.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BROTHER!” The thunder god narrowly misses his target as Loki simply laughs louder and takes a step sideways, knives already in his hand. He has two very special knives reserved for two very special people. Thor and Odin.

With a wide grin Loki attacks his not-brother, the knife almost plunges in his chest but is deflected by Mjolnir.

“Why Thor, I am right here.” Loki sneers as they stand before one another, Thor heaving and looking exhausted, he’s fought off many enemies already and unlike Loki he does not have a never-ending supply of seidr to keep him going.

“LIAR, TELL ME WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO HIM!” Thor screams before he lunges at the creature that is the body of the Trickster but not his brother.

Loki jumps away and disappears in green smoke before materializing behind Thor to stab him in the back. He doesn’t see Mjolnir coming though and it buries itself in his chest making him fly backwards. With an angry snarl that is almost feral Loki disappears again.

“This is me Thor, this is who I really am!” Loki’s voice drifts towards the thunder god like it has been carried by the wind from a long distance.

“Thanos freed me from you and your _father._ ”

Green smoke rises up from everywhere around Thor and the voice keeps going, louder and louder by the passing second.

“Thanos _showed_  me what I needed to see: I am not your bother, I am NOT YOUR FAMILY!”

Behind Thor stands Loki suddenly, knife in his hand as his voice drops to a whisper.

“And I will kill _everyone_ in this entire-“ when Thor turns around to face this abomination that has taken the form of his brother he can see an arrow buried in its chest, blood seeping out of the wound and from behind Loki he can hear the Man of Iron yell.

“Need some help there Point Break?”

XxXxXxXxXx

_Normally it’s either contain or kill. This one is kill on sight, no hesitation and never in his life has he ever had any problem with that, as an assassin he’d killed hundreds of people in the blink of an eye._

_Man, woman, child he’s never truly cared if his employer wanted someone dead that person was dead within 24 hours and that was that. Whether it was 1 person or a hundred, one child or a hundred._

_The mission is simple enough, they need to protect the Russian president because if he’s killed in this convention, here and at this time where America and Russia couldn’t be further apart America will pay the price and a nuclear war is inevitable._

_An unknown organization has taken to it that a nuclear war would be exactly what the world needs and has hired an assassin only known to them as the Black Widow to make their sick dream come true._

_S.H.I.E.L.D. has given him information about this Black Widow but it seems even they are uncertain about who this assassin truly is._

_Barton sits as high as possible, hidden by the shadows of the statues and woodwork above him no one can see him keeping an eye out. His name has never been more fitting. He’s sitting there, scanning the guests for potential suspects when he sees her._

_A flash of red before it’s disappeared and without further ado he follows her. His target is fast, faster than he had expected and she knows her way around. Clint has seen the blueprints of this building and he can only assume this Black Widow has as well._

_At first he thinks she’s foolish, why is she running to the roof, where there is no escape?_

_It’s only when he’s run onto the roof and feels the cold metal of a gun against his neck he realizes that he’s been a fool and_ god how could he have been this stupid _but it’s too late now._

_Slowly he turns around, the gun is pressed at his forehead now._

_He tries to smile like the gun at his forehead isn’t there._

_“So you’re gonna shoot me without a silencer? This place is crawling with security they’d hear you and you wouldn’t have the chance to kill the president.”_

_To his surprise the woman actually smiles back. She takes the gun off his head and cocks her head._

_“You’re right.” She says._

_“I’ll push you off this building instead.”_

_And then her hands hit his chest with so much force he stumbles back and before he can react she has kicked him in the chest already and he’s falling of this very important building in Russia to his death._

XxXxXxXxXx

When that arrow hits Loki Clint almost feels bad for the lunatic kid god. _Almost_.

Next to him agent Romanoff is holding a Chitauri weapon because her own guns are empty and she’s literally soaked in Chitauri blood. Stark and Rogers are standing behind him and the Hulk is somewhere else probably squashing ten Chitauri at a time with one foot.

Thor looks up with a confused look on his face and the Loki Clint shot slowly disappears in a cloud of green smoke.

Suddenly a wind comes out of nowhere, throwing them all of balance and Clint can see the cloud of green smoke being carried away by that sudden wind and he’s almost disappointed that didn’t finish Loki for good. Of course that would have been too beautiful to be true.

Thor doesn’t waste his time and with one mighty swing of Mjolnir he follows his brother’s smoke cloud.

Stark takes of the mask for a second and looks very much offended.

“Did you just see that?” he huffs, blasting a Chitauri warrior that had foolishly decided to try and take the Avengers on alone while being surrounded by his dead comrades.

“What?” Rogers looks confused. “Loki disappearing in some weird cloud of green smoke?”

Clint shoots another arrow in the eye socket of the closest Chitauri while Natasha shoots the next one.

“No, he means the fact that Thor just totally ditched us…again.”

XxXxXxXxXx

“For Asgard!” the Einerjahr surround the All-Father and All-Mother weapons raised as more and more Chitauri come.

Next to him Frigga is throwing knives at a speed that reminds him why she is the woman standing next to him and not the woman his father had preferred for him.

Gugnir has never felt this heavy in his hand as it does now, powerful seidr shoots from the tip and kills a hundred Chitauri at once but they keep coming and right now they are boxed in, in front of them are the open doors of the Throne room where these vile creatures keep coming from, the Tesseract’s Energy can easily be felt.

Thanos has not arrived yet but it will not be long until the mad Titan comes for what he wants. Odin can only guess how Thanos had managed to open the Tesseract, to make it create a portal in the middle of Asgard right under their noses.

Suddenly and with a loud bang all doors fly open, the Einerjahr that had been guarding them are thrown away like children’s toy soldiers and the entire ground shakes, wind with so much force it even blows away some of the Chitauri howls through the palace, Frigga’s throwing knives now hit the wrong targets and Odin and Frigga can feel it.

The seidr that’s causing all this and with a sinking feeling in their hearts they recognize it, this flow of energy that is unmistakably… _Loki’s_.

XxXxXxXxXx

_She doesn’t even wait to hear the body hit the ground, that man is dead by now and she turns around, ready to get back in and kill a president to cause a nuclear war. What can she say? She’s already done so much, got this much red on her ledger, what’s a few billion people more?_

_“Nice try.”_

_Natasha whirls around gun at the ready before someone kicks her arm but she doesn’t let go of the gun._

_She drops on knee and makes a pirouette to trip her attacker but he just jumps up and land on her leg, it breaks with a CRACK but she ignores the pain and using her attacker who’s still standing on her leg as leverages she pulls herself half-upright and punches him in the stomach making him stumble._

_With all her power she yanks her leg from under him and throws her gun away reaching for her knife._

_“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” A smug voice calls from above her. She looks up with narrowed eyes. The man she’s just pushed of this roof is pointing a… bow and arrow??? At her head._

_He smiles when he sees her reaction._

_“It’s a bit old fashioned I know but hey, this doesn’t need a silencer.”_

_She’s taken a hold of the knife now and just when she’s about to plunge it in his chest he kicks her right arm from under her ad gestures towards her left._

_“You might wanna drop the knife lady unless you’re planning on cutting your own wrists in which case I’d say: go ahead.”_

_Time for a different approach. She slowly puts down the knife and with both arms raised she slowly stands up._

_She smiles apologetically at him._

_“You can’t blame a girl for trying.” She whispers, cocking her head and flashing another smile at him._

_She slowly takes a step towards him and continues talking._

_“You know,” she very close to him right now, she leans forwards placing her hand on his chest._

_“I could-_

_The man takes a step back abruptly, almost making her lose her balance._

_“-take a step back?” he says, ‘that’d be nice.”_

_Fine if this won’t work she’ll have to do this the less pleasant way. Without hesitating she ducks and grabs the knife she’s dropped, the arrow narrowly misses her hand and with one swift move she’s jumped on him, rendering the bow useless and kicking him in the chest._

_Her opponent seems surprised for a moment and then he grabs her and attempts to throw her away but with one swift move of her wrist she hits his temple with the knife handle and he falls down, knocked out cold._

_She’s got to admit it she’s almost out of breath. Ignoring her leg she gets up and looks down at the man she had thrown of this roof a few moments ago and then had somehow survived this ordeal to almost beat her._

_When she looks down she can see that the Russian president is stepping inside his car and with screeching tires the black bulletproof car drives away._

_“дерьмо!” she mutters while she throws away her knife, she turns around and kicks the unconscious agents vehemently._

_“This is your fault you meddling хуй!”_

_Angrily she picks the knife she’s just thrown away back up. She cannot leave loose ends._

XxXxXxXxXx

When they finally get to that goddamn palace Tony wants to throw his hand in the air and hoot for joy, seriously how big can a palace get? He thought his home was big.

Of course his immense joy has to be tramples the moment he can feel it because then the entire palace starts to shake and he really really does not like the idea of this whole stupid building collapsing on them after having done so much effort to get here in the first place.

In the middle of the room (and the attention, why does this not surprise him?) stands Loki, somehow he looks older though but now is not the time to study Loki’s age or appearance because green smoke and sparkles (yes sparkles, my little pony friendship is magic style) is rising from the ground at Loki’s feet.

When they try to get closer more Chitauri just attack them and the ground keeps shaking, with much difficulty Tony manages to get to Thor, behind him the rest of the Avengers are slaughtering Chitauri.

“You brother has gone CRAZY!” he yells. He pauses for a moment inhales deeply and obviously, "Well  _more_ crazy I suppose."

Thor turns around to his voice (finally he is not ignored!)

“That is not my brother!” he screams back, squashing another Chitauri.

“No?” Tony counters, “He sure looks like him!”

With one might swing of his magic hammer the Chitauri separating them from each other and a normal conversation, are thrown away or smashed to pieces.

“He is under the control of some sort of spell!” Thor yells.

“Thanos must have-“

And apparently the universe hates fully completed, uninterrupted sentences because then a blinding blue light fills up the room and Thor cannot finish his sentence because he has to scream and cover his eyes in outrage and so does Tony.

XxXxXxXxXx

_The next time they meet it’s in much more pleasant circumstances. It’s been 4 months and in those four months Barton still doesn’t know. Why would she leave him alive? He’s been tracking her ever since that rooftop incident and he hasn’t contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. either, this is something he needs to do without the help or interference from S.H.I.E.L.D._

_He doesn’t know why she’s chosen this setting and he feels ridiculous for even accepting her invitation. Because there is no doubt in is mind that invitation on his pillow in that crappy motel to this fancy costume ball is not from her. He’s done some personal digging on her this time. More detailed and with less legal routes then S.H.I.E.L.D. had ever done but at least he’d gotten some result. Not much, naturally he hadn’t expected to find much about her but still._

_Mostly he had found aliases but from what he would conclude her name was Romanoff, Natasha Romanoff, a spy slash assassin with a past that would make most people want to cry and hide in a dark corner in a very much secured house. Not him, his findings had intrigued him, she reminds him so much of himself. The Hawkeye that had chosen a criminal path instead of the one he’s walking right now._

_The people here make him sick, pretentious rich and spoiled children, who believe they’re everything and the world resolves around them. The only good part about his ex-job had been he had the opportunity and excuse to murder some of these pretentious bastards. Now his job almost exists out of protecting them, a though that makes him sick in his stomach, honestly._

_It doesn’t surprise him that he finds her on a balcony, wearing a black dress, that covers her legs partly and does not hide much of her upper body at all. Her hair has grown and she’s wearing it in a bun but he can recognize that shade of red any time._

_The music from downstairs is still audible and the night is quite warm._

_He comes to stand next to her and they stand there like that for a while. When the next song is being played she turns to him and lifts her hand towards him._

_“Care to dance?” she asks innocently._

_Clint takes her hand and nods._

_“Of course.” He says._

_She’s a very good dance, much better than he is actually but that’s not that hard anyway._

_They dance until the song ends and when they part he akss her the question that’s been bugging him for a long time._

_“Why didn’t you kill me?”_

_The Black Widow sighs and looks at the view they have from this balcony, it is truly beautiful but Clint doesn’t feel like admiring the view right now._

_“I have so much red on my ledger.”_

_It’s not an answer. But somehow it is, somehow it is the exact answer that Clint needs, it’s the answer that starts it all. That’s the very reason everything after this moment has happened. And so is his reaction._

_“Would you like to wipe it out?”_

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve really does not like this new era he’s awakened in, he likes the old one much better. Back in the time when it was just some German egomaniac with a world-dominance wish and no real flesh on his bones, with a red skull and just an army of Nazi’s with super weapons at his back, not this modern shit.

With de-aged demi gods and power hungry almighty mad titans who can’t die and want to kill everyone in the world to court some weird Mistress Death. With armies of aliens with super weapons and goddamned magic flying around everywhere.

When blue lights blinds them all the only thing Captain America can see for a while is black dots dancing in front of his eyes and even sound is muffled, like the light has affected all of his senses.

He feels drowsy for a second before the super-serum kicks in and he regains his senses much faster than an average human ever would.

Hearing comes back first, cries of battle or of death are the first thing that reach his ears and it suddenly feels like he’s back in the 1900’s, in the middle of the war with people dying everywhere for nothing.

Then the black dots finally disappear. He looks around but he doesn’t have to look long, in the opening of the doors (they had been ripped of their hinges, those were golden ten feet high doors, seriously?) stands Thanos, the scepter Loki had had on earth back when he had attacked it, in his hands. Steve can almost feel the scepter and he’s a human standing at least twenty feet away from it.

Yeah, Steve prefers the old world, or if that’s not possible, he’d like those black dots back before his eyes please.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES; that is my take on how Hawkeye and Black Widow met (it is NOT CANON) this part was not based on the comics it’s entirely my own creation. I hope you enjoyed it, flashback will come in the next chapter as well, a little less of Clint maybe a little more of Loki I’m still deciding. Again THANK YOU for those who reviewed and please for those who haven’t: it would be very much appreciated! If you review my story might get known a bit more, more people might get interested and I might be able to make a sequel but that’s entirely up to the people who review! I know I said I might get a preview of the other fic I’m working on but it’ still very much in progress and with school that started again I don’t have that much time.
> 
> Also please tell what you think of these flashback scenes? Do you like them?
> 
> ATTENTION AGAIN TO THE DISCLAIMER AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS CHAPTER PLEASE READ IT


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep telling me what you want: sequel or three-part it’s evn votes right now

Natasha doesn't like Thanos. Honestly even if he wouldn't be a Madman trying to kill everyone she still wouldn't have liked him. It's not only the fact that he's ugly as fuck but also that he looks very very smug, like he's won already and Natasha hasn't even played yet. She's never been one for spotlight. This 'Avengers' thing has never been her... well thing. She's a spy and she's never felt the need to stand in the spotlight... Or to be a hero at all anyway.

All she's wanted since she joined S.H.I.E.L.D. is  to wipe out her red. The blood that's still stuck on her hands, covering them and staying there even though others can't see it or she can't wash it off no matter how hard she scrubs.

She's always been content with being unknown, uncredited, secret missions, no one but she should know what she's doing because no matter how you want to look at it, Natasha Romanoff is not a hero.

Killing people to save other has always been in the shadows because she doesn't want people to get the wrong idea. To think she' actually good when she can never ever be forgiven for all the horrible things she's done. But at that moment, when that lunatics comes on stage and smiles like he's the lead actor that did all the work she really feels the urge to jump and cut of his head. See if the immortal Titan is still as smug without a head.

The Chitauri seem to like Thanos' head much more than her, suddenly their attacks are with much more force. You could say it's enthusiasm or maybe they just wanted to show off in front of the big boss.

Just when she almost beheads another extraterrestrial Thanosfan she hears their boss speak in a way that make the walls quiver. Or maybe it's just Loki doing his weird magic.

"Resistance is amusing yet very futile, give up now Odin All-Father and your people's death will be merciful and quick."

Odin looks like he wants to tell Thanos where he can put his merciful death but it's Thor's voice that Natasha hears next.

"Where is my brother?" he bellows, his magic hammer is thrown to Thanos who dodges it by taking a step sideways. Although he really doesn't look pleased that he didn't get a declaration of defeat.

He smiles in an unnerving way that makes her believe this man kicks puppies in his free time.

“You brother is right here.” He swishes the Mind Gem a few times and then points at…. Loki? Natasha’s not sure actually because no one ever explained but she has a feeling that the Loki Thanos is pointing at isn’t really Loki.

“What have you done with him?”

Thanos smiles again and really it doesn’t make him more threatening just uglier.

“I could have never done it without this.” He swishes the Mind Gem scepter again.

“The energy needed to perform a task, a piece of art like this but the Mind Taker sure did what it was supposed to.”

Suddenly the whole palace quakes again but this time the tremors do not come from Loki or Thanos but from the spear in the hands of Odin. Natasha almost loses her footing and with a curse she grabs the nearest column.

A wave of energy knocks her off her feet and she can see beside her that it does worse things to some of the Chitauri around her, a ringing in her ears makes it impossible to hear but she can see Chitauri around her grab their heads and open their mouths in what is for her a silent scream, blood splatters on the ground from where their eyes couldn’t take the pressure anymore.

She sees Odin’s mouth move but she can’t make out the words and it’s only when Thor starts to scream that she can hear again.

“You will pay for this!” he screams he tries to hit Thanos again but is deflected easily once more. From the corner of her eye she can see new Chitauri filling the room, it seems like there’s no end to all of this.

“Oh but Thor, I like it this way.” Loki’s voice sounds unnatural, his words are twisted like he doesn’t know how to properly pronounce them anymore and the smile that’s on his face makes even Natasha sick, it’s the smile of a psychopath on the face of a child.

Thor’s rage only seems even more fueled by this and Natasha wonders if she’s the only one that doesn’t understand anything about this.

“Oh Thunder God, why do you not give up? Soon the Mind Taker will have consumed your brother, embrace him who stands before you now for it will be all that is left of your precious brother.”

The New Chitauri are surrounding them quickly but they’re too far away to do anything about it.

“Hey, hey Time out here guys, how about a little explanation for the people in this room who’re not Norse deities?” Stark flails with his arms.

Thanos turns and when he sees Stark his eyes flash, like he’s just remembered something important.

“Oh don’t think we forgot about you, Man of Iron and your rousing speech back on Midgard.”

Thanos turns his head to his right and Natasha sees the not-Loki teleport by his side and with a swish of his hand green smoke suddenly rises up from the ground.

“I was so very touched I decided to bring a souvenir back from earth.”

At first the only thing Natasha can see is the Other standing there but then she sees that there’s someone else, hovering behind him unconscious. She recognizes who it is a split second after Tony does.

“Pepper?”

XxXxXxXxXx

_“What’s wrong with you? You’ve never had any problems with missions before.”_

_“I’m not saying I’m having problems with this mission Tasha, I’m just-“_

_“Look Clint, I don’t care, we’ve got our orders.” She snaps, putting the detonato_ r _in her pocket._

_She’s about to storm out, expecting her partner to follow but instead Clint grabs her arm and turns her around._

_“Wait, Natasha please.” His tone is almost desperate._

_“You’re the one who told me that by following orders I’d get a chance to do the right thing.”_

_“Yes, but I never said to follow them blindly, think about this Natasha those are children.”_

_“You think I don’t know that Barton? Like I said we’ve got our orders.”_

_“You can’t just waltz out and detonate those bombs, you’re going to kill thousands.”_

_“And save billions! You’ve never had any problems with killing children before.”_

_“You don’t have to tell me who I was Natasha, I know full well what I used to do, that doesn’t make up for this. These are sick people.”_

_“S.H.I.E.L.D.’s orders were clear Barton.”_

_“You wanted to wipe out the red in your ledger, Natasha, if you do this, it’ll never go away.”_

_She yanks her arm out of his grip._

_“Orders are orders.”_

_And then she’s gone._

XxXxXxXxXx

“Pepper!” Tony screams, he flies as fast as he can towards her but then he suddenly smacks against a force field and with a loud CRACK he falls to the ground.

“Tut tut tut ,” Loki smiles, with a wave of his hand Pepper floats closer to him and when she’s close enough he grabs her, pressing a knife against her throat, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Let her go or I swear I will-“

“I tire of this game already.” Thanos interrupts.

“Maybe it’s time to finish this what do you think Loki?”

“I kind of like the look of despair he’s wearing.” Loki hisses as he presses the knife even harder against’ her throat, a little drop of blood wells up at the tip of his knife and Tony wants to crush him but he’s too scared to move, one wrong move and Pepper is dead.

Pepper, who’s supported him all this time, Pepper, the only person who’s brought stability in his life and the one he wants to protect the most. This is all his fault, he should’ve forced her to go back to Europe she would’ve hated him for it but at least she wouldn’t be in the danger she is now.

Out of nowhere an arrow suddenly embeds itself on the ground before Loki’s feet. The force field that stopped his suit hadn’t even stopped the arrow a little bit.

The eyes of everyone in the entire room look at the person who shot it.

“Look who I found.” Barton says, a new arrow already in his hand.

Behind him stands the guy Tony recognizes as the one that brought them here in the first place, Tyr. And next to him stands someone Tony’s never seen but he can guess who it is.

Thor confirms his suspicions.

“Hela?”

XxXxXxXxXx

_When the Energy wave hits Barton he’s not prepared, he loses his balance quickly, his high spot that had seemed such a perfect spot suddenly doesn’t feel like that anymore, he can feel his body being lifted and he’s blown away with so much force that he almost flies out of the palace, around him Chitauri aren’t having any better luck, they’re knocked away like dominos._

_Mid-air he somehow manages to balance himself and he quickly shoots an arrow with a hook and rope to the closest wall. He braces himself for the impact with the ground and his knees shake from the force of it when his feet touch the ground._

_“I see all is going well.” Clint whirls around, arrow already on his bow to shoot whoever decided to give him a heart attack but he lowers it when he recognizes Tyr._

_The one who had spoken is not Tyr though, it’s a woman, clad in a green cloak and wearing some kind of mask. Her long black hair seems to be unmoved from the wind all around them and behind her stand hundreds of black warriors. It’s only when he narrows his eyes that he can actually see who’s standing behind her._

_The black warriors he sees aren’t black, their flesh is dark and rotting, some of them don’t even have any flesh left on their bones. The smell of rotting flesh, of the ones that actually have flesh that’s rotting,is overwhelming._

_“Who the fuck are you?” He snaps, pointing his bow and arrow at the lady before him. Of course behind her is an army of the dead so his arrow probably won’t any good but hey, at least he’s trying._

_“I am Hela.”_

_Clint narrows his eyes again._

_“Why are you here?”_

_Hela smiles and suddenly half her body flickers like a bad lamp and for a split second Barton can swear he sees bones and rotting flesh instead the beautiful face he’s seen seconds ago._

_“As part of the deal I made with Loki of course.”_

XxXxXxXxXx

“You saw that?” Barton yells.

Oh he really wants to put his next arrow in that creep’s head. This is the guy who’s the actual cause of all of this misery, this is the lunatic that wants to kill everyone. Well Barton’s going to be the guy who stops the son of a bitch and then, maybe then he’ll finally get a good night sleep.

“You see this?” he motions to the arrow on his bow.

“Adamantium.”

“An arrow cannot kill me you foolish Midgardian.”

“You sure about that?”

Clint almost smiles.

“Cause this is one special arrow, you see her?” this time he motions to Hela. He can see the other Avengers looking at him like he’s crazy and maybe he is, trusting this Death Goddess that made a deal with the bastard that took away his mind.

He can see Thanos is starting to realize what he’s talking about. This is Hela and she’s told him, that she can kill gods with her touch, then why not a Mad Titan by enhancing a simple arrow?

Barton _expects_ Thanos to give up but he doesn’t.

He just starts _laughing_.

XxXxXxXxXx

_“Coulson’s dead.”_

_They don’t have to tell him who did it. And Clint wills himself to blame him, to blame the God that took his mind and twisted his thoughts, forced him to do horrible things but he feels empty._

_He feels like the air has just been sucked out of him, like he’s not even sitting there._

_The only thing he feels is self-loathing, it’s his fault isn’t it? Isn’t it always his fault? It was his fault when his parents died because he had made their dad angry a few hours before they left. It’s his fault Barney joined the military because he never tried hard enough to convince the Swordsman to take Barney as an assistant instead of him. It’s his fault Barney’s dead because he KILLED his own brother. It’s his fault Coulson’s dead because he let himself be possessed, be manipulated by Loki. It’s his fault, everything is his fault if he hadn’t taken Coulson’s offer this would never have happened._

_But when he closes his eyes the only thing he sees is the faces of the people he’s killed or helped kill._

_The only thing that keeps him sane these days are missions, he’s been doing them with much more vigor, they give him energy and when he’s doing a missions he’s not having nightmares, it’s gone as far that’s he’s been asking Fury for missions even the smaller ones that are usually for less specialized agents and he’s been doing a lot more solo missions than he used to, something that agent Romanoff hasn’t failed to notice. Sometimes when there are no missions for him and he just cannot sleep, when he closes his eyes, the nightmares come and sometimes he screams himself awake so instead he trains._

_He trains every free minute he has, hitting targets from distances and angles he’s never tried before, trying to find new designs for his arrows and he’s even specializing himself more in knives too although they’ve never been his thing._

_It’s when he’s training that Natasha talks to him. He’s been avoiding the subject for a while now but she somehow corners him in the training room._

_“The only thing you do these days is train.” She says, leaning against his target._

_Barton shrugs and shoot his arrow nonetheless. She doesn’t even flinch._

_“I do missions too.” He counters, shooting three arrows in just as many seconds._

_When all his arrows are embedded in his target and he goes to collect them she stops him._

_“It’s not your fault.”_

_Clint almost laughs at her, of course it is his fault. He doesn’t laugh though, he takes his arrows and begins again._

_XxXxXxXxXx_

_It’s been four months since Coulson’s death and Clint still hasn’t taken a break. Natasha has tried to confront him. This guilt that’s eating him alive, it’s not good, it’s going to destroy him, it’s already destroying him._

_Every time she sees him he’s training or doing something with his arrows. She’s seen the sketches in his room, arrows with poison, arrows with acid, arrows that explode, arrows with trackers, you name it Barton has made a design and a request to their equipment and weapons facility._

_He used to minimalize the casualties as much as he could, he used to at least try to knock some of their opponents unconscious instead of shooting them and being done with it. He didn’t used to shoot an arrow in someone’s leg when they don’t cooperate immediately, heck he used to be the one stopping her from cutting off a body part or two._

_He lashes out at everyone, aggressively snapping and biting at everyone who dares to come close to him. He’s been doing so many solo missions excluding her from everything he does, distancing himself from everyone around him and Natasha wants to do something about it but she really can’t._

_What can she say other than what has been said already? Coulson’s death hit her pretty hard too. Coulson was a good man, Coulson had accepted her easily and even helped convince Fury to take her in as an agent, to give her a second chance and of course she’s thankful for that and she feels grief for his loss but Clint…_

_Honestly she doesn’t know what kind of relationship he and Coulson had had. She knows it was Coulson who had given Clint the offer to join S.H.I.E.L.D. who had given him a way out. She also knows that it had been Coulson who had guided Barton through his first missions, who’d told him the rules, who’d given him advice and probably had changed his way of thinking towards the outside world. Coulson had meant so much more to Barton than he had to her, she understands but she also knows that Clint can’t continue like this, that he’ll have to let go._

_They’re on a mission when the opportunity finally arrives. They’re supposed to get some information and then scram. They’re sitting outside the building in a small car. Barton is looking at the building with the infra-red glasses they have been given by Stark Industries and she’s breaking down every fire-wall the entire corporation has with ease._

_“You can’t go on like this anymore.”_

_Her fingers race over the keyboard and Barton turns toward her but doesn’t react for a few seconds._

_“I think the mission is going pretty well.” He states, looking towards the building again._

_“You know I’m not talking about the mission.”_

_“No? What are you talking about then?” he asks, feigning, she’s sure, innocence._

_“You have to let it go, Barton, don’t think about it like that anymore, it wasn’t your fault.”_

_He surprises her with his answer and she doesn’t know whether to be relieved or even more concerned at his words._

_“My fault?” he says, they both get out of the car and when an agent spots them he shoots an arrow through his eye._

_“It’s not my fault.”_

_He yanks out the arrow, the point is dripping with blood._

_“It’s Loki’s.”_

XxXxXxXxXx

“You want to kill me little mortal?” Thanos asks.

Clint is about to answer to that but Thanos doesn’t give him a chance.

“Oh I don’t doubt that arrow has a fair chance of bringing about my death but what about poor, poor Pepper Potts?”

Thanos turns towards the unconscious Pepper and Clint hears Tony yell and shout curses but Thanos ignores him.

“Tell them Loki,” when he puts the emphasis on ‘Loki’ he grins at Thor, daring him.

“What will you do when out friend shoots me?”

Loki cocks his head and smiles. He doesn’t hesitate when he answers.

“Why, I’ll slit her throat of course.” He lowers his knife.

“But it’d be so much more fun if she was conscious!”

Suddenly whatever force that made her hover is gone and Pepper falls, waking up from her apparent sleep with a start but before she can do anything Loki’s grabbed her by her hair, hoists her up and puts the knife at her throat again. Pepper looks terrified, she opens her mouth to speak but Loki presses the knife even harder down.

“Hush, now we don’t want to break our friend’s concentration, he might miss if we do that!”

“Let her go you freak!” Tony screams shooting at Thanos but the force field stops all the bullets and energy.

“I demand you release my brother and the mortal Thanos!” Thor bellows, throwing Mjolnir against the barrier but it does a s little as Stark’s shooting does.

“But you know what?” Thanos suddenly says.

“I just had an idea to make this so much more interesting. How about this: Loki?”

He’s not looking at Loki when he says this, he’s looking Clint right in the eye, smiling.

“Kill the mortal anyway.”

When he waves his scepter in Loki’s direction Clint can see his eyes glow bright green, as if they’re agreeing with Thanos.

“So what’s it going to be? I can see it’s your last arrow, Midgardian and if it has the power to kill me, killing the demi-god will be no problem, right?”

Loki pulls at his hostage’s hair again, making her cry out and try and grab his hands but he slaps them away.

“Come one, little mortal.” He taunts.

“Shoot the arrow.”

When Clint doesn’t react he pulls even harder and when the knife draws blood again he puts it at his lips and licks it off, the sight makes Barton nauseous.

“Or maybe you need some encouragement? Hmm? Wanna know how your friend looked when I killed him? When I put my scepter right through his heart? What was his name again? Culsen? Couling? Well I don’t remember, I do remember the look on his face when he died, how I enjoyed it. Do you hear me Barton? I killed your _mentor_ and I liked it. Would do it all over again when given the chance.”

His words are meant to goad him to make him shoot that arrow at him and even though Clint knows this he can’t help it, his words are working.

He tries to block out Loki, who’s still describing how he killed Coulson who’s telling him he’ll go after everyone Clint cares about.

And suddenly Clint _knows_ where he’s going to point his arrow.

Taking a deep breath he pulls the arrow to his ear and he prays it’ll hit its target. He’ll enjoy this if it does.

And then he lets go.

 


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To answer a comment: Loki's eyes flashed gren because although his Mind was Takenn it's still Loki that's standing there (sort of) the energy and magic supplied by Thanos are made Loki's so it's that magic, the seidr that fuels Loki and the Mind Gem that flashes in his eyes. Not blue because in a way his actions are taken voluntarily.

**Yes this chapter is a lot shorter than the other ones because this is the end of the first part! I have decided that I’ll make this a three-part-story! This concludes the first part. You guys will decide when the next chapter comes out: if enough reviews it might come out tomorrow or Tuesday, if not it’ll be a regular update or, possibly later because I have a lot of work for school mweh.**

Loki is dying, it’s as simple as that. If someone would ask him to describe the feeling he would answer him that it sucks. Ever lost all feeling in a limb? Like you’re not sure if it’s still attached to your body or just randomly fallen off?  Imagine that, but with your mind. It feels like his mind, his essence everything that makes him Loki is withering away.

His memories of himself are disappearing, at this moment he isn’t even sure who he is anymore, he knows his name but everything else is a haze, who is he? Who was he before this? Before this mind that is slowly disintegrating?

His feeling haven’t changed however, his emotions have never been this strong, for a reason, and he cannot fathom why, he feels dread, above all else he feel despair, the haze, the fog that’s slowly taking over his mind haven’t dulled those emotions yet. He feels regret and pain and fear and he feels lost. He tries to remember why, if he dies he wants to know why, he at least wants to be himself.

Above all else, even above the fog, the slow but steady stream of memories that’s disappearing he remembers only one name and when he thinks about it, it fills him with regret and self-loathing but it’s the only vast thing he actually remembers.

_Thor_

And it’s that name that engraved in his mind when his world, the world around him, that’s trapping him, disappears and suddenly he can feel his body again but he knows, _he’s still dying._

XxXxXxXxXx

When the Mind Gem shatters everything around him is blown away bit not him, Thor screams in anger and throws Mjolnir to the ground, still holding the handle, effectively anchoring himself.

He knows Odin has done the same with Gugnir and he can feel the All-Father’s spear’s energy engulf his friends and although he is relieved to know his friends are not among the ones who are ripped apart by the sheer force of the explosion he feels like he cannot think about them now, the only thing he can think about is Loki.

For a  moment he had believed the mortal would’ve killed Loki, would’ve killed Loki to save the ladyfriend of the Man of Iron but instead, the enchanted arrow has pierced the Gem, incased by the scepter.

When the energy waves finally decrease the Thunder God, brother of Loki doesn’t hesitate and swing Mjolnir in the direction that he knows his brother must be, the Mind Taker can only be there, can only _work_ if it has an infinite power supply and with that supply blown up he knows it has lost its power.

When he sees a flash of green he dives toward it, he can see Loki but when Thor grabs his brother to embrace him and tell him that everything is alright he suddenly feels it. Or the lack of it, his brother is half-unconscious and never in his life has Thor seen him so pale, so fragile and broken than he sees him now. And never in his life has he ever held his brother, as enemy or friend, without the shimmering energy in his body that makes Loki, Loki.

Never has he felt his brother without his _seidr_ , without his magic.

XxXxXxXxXx

_“Loooookiiiiiiiiii”_

_“No”_

_“What? But I haven’t even asked you yet!”_

_Loki doesn’t even look up from the book he’s reading._

_“Answer’s still no.”_

_“But-“_

_“No”_

_“At least let me finish brother!” Thor exclaims, throwing his hands in the air before using them to grab his brother’s book._

_“Hey I’m reading that!”_

_Thor quickly holds the book as far away as possible from his brother._

_“Well I know what you can do that’s ten thousand times more fun than reading!”_

_When his desperate attempts to get his book back fail, Loki crosses his arms, and huffs,_

_“Last time we did something fun Thor, your friends threw me into a river.”_

_Thor’s brow furrows and he taps his chin with his finger thoughtfully._

_“I do think I remember you put a spell on their clothes that made them very itchy so they had to jump in the river themselves if they didn’t want to scratch their skins off their bones.”_

_His brother rolls his eyes._

_“It was just a bit of fun Thor you know that.”_

_Another moment passes where Thor taps his chin a little harder but then his face clears up again._

_“Whatever I was telling you about this awesome thing we’re-“_

_“-you-“_

_“-going to do!” Thor finishes like he hasn’t been interrupted at all._

_“You see, Father said he was going to get me this awesome birthday present ‘when I’m ready’ and I asked mother and she wouldn’t tell me-“_

_“-Obviously.” Loki sighs._

_“-But I kept asking-“_

_“-Obviously.” Loki repeats, hoping secretly, or not so secretly, that that’s it._

_“So she finally said that Father hid it in the Weaponry!”_

_Loki raises a perfect eyebrow._

_“Where we’re not allowed in lest Father accompanies us.”_

_Thor waves his brother’s remark away quickly and jumps up and down enthusiastically._

_“Wouldn’t it be so awesome if we took a look?”_

_Loki doesn’t seem impressed._

_“No”_

_His brother pretends like he hasn’t heard him, throwing away Loki’s book and grabbing his sibling’s arm, tugging it insistently._

_“Come one brother, whatever happened to your sense of mischief, don’t tell you don’t want to break the rules!”_

_“Do you even have a plan?”_

_The bouncing stops._

_“Well I have like a quarter of a plan.”_

_Loki rolls his eyes and quickly sidesteps Thor, grabbing his book and putting it back on his desk._

_“I will repeat my answer as it would appear you did not understand: no.”_

_The books is grabbed again and this time Loki doesn’t even try to get it back._

_“You’ve been talking about the Weaponry ever since father showed us that box, you cannot fool me!”_

_The youngest sibling’s eyebrows are furrow._

_“Blue box?”_

_“You knowwww the blue one with the black lines on it?”_

_Again, Loki’s eyebrow shoots upright._

_“The Casket of Ancient Winters?”_

_“Yeah that one!”_

_Loki looks down, he has been wanting to take another look at it, it is a very important artifact that’s been the reason for the relative peace between the Aesir and Frost Giants so it indeed has peaked his interest. Of course he can’t just relent like that to Thor._

_“Fine.” He says. “But on one condition.”_

_“Yeah sure, what is it?”_

_“I create the plan.”_

_“Sure.”_

_“And you do what I say.”_

_“Sure.”_

_Oh, Loki knows this is going to be so much fun!_

XxXxXxXxXx

“Loki!”

The voice is annoying, all he wants to do is sleep, just a little longer.

“Loki!”

Why can’t it shut up?

“BROTHER!”

Loki wakes up with a start and it feels like a horde of Bilgesnipe has run over him. The light hurts his eyes and he blinks a couple of time, a metallic taste in his mouth makes him want to hurl and his head is pounding like someone is slamming Mjolnir in his head.

“Loki? Say something brother, are you awake?”

“Ugh”, Loki grunts out, his body hurts, _everything_ hurts.

“Get off of me.”

Suddenly the hand that’s holding him disappears as his brother backs away and Loki almost falls but Thor realizes his mistake just in time and the hand quickly returns.

Only now does Loki see what’s happening, or rather what’s happened around him.

Thanos has been thrown away a few feet by the shock of the blast, Odin has collapsed and the All-Mother lays next to him, Loki can see she’s holding the All-Father hand and even from this distance he feels the seidr that’s binding the two.

Thor’s friends are scattered everywhere but it’s obvious they’ve been protected by Gugnir’s force because although some of them are unconscious and other very dazed and some even gravely wounded he can see that the Chitauri around them are ripped apart, their mutilated bodies even stick to the walls.

Suddenly he hears the sound of someone throwing away rubble and he sees Thanos rise from where he laid. The Titan dusts himself off like nothing’s happened and then he looks at the unconscious forms of the Avengers and the Thunder God  bowed over his broken brother’s form and he smiles.

Behind him, far behind, Loki knows, lies the mortal who destroyed the Mind Gem. He can feel his gaze on his back and then Thanos speaks.

He looks at the scattered remains of what was once the Mind Gem end cocks his head, it doesn’t fit him.

“A minor setback.” His voice makes Loki want to hurl even more.

Suddenly he can feel the seidr moving towards Thanos and without further warning his brother his thrown through the wall with a blast powerful enough to destroy a small planet. The only reason Loki still there is because Thanos allows him to.

“But I’ll manage.”

And with that Loki can feel the Tesseract power up.

“I’ll just destroy Asgard whole and then all of you meddlesome insects will be gone.”

XxXxXxXxXx

_“I still don’t understand why I’m dressed up as a woman.”_

_Loki shakes his head and smiles._

_“I thought we agreed that you’d listen to what I told you.”_

_Thor narrows his eyes._

_“This is payback because I didn’t stop them from throwing you in the river.”_

_Loki just shrugs._

_“And for laughing of course.” Thor makes an indignant noise from the back of his throat._

_“It was funny.”_

_“So is this.” Loki says smugly._

_“Now, the plan is very simple, the only thing you have to do is put this,”_

_Loki conjures a small vial up, out of nowhere. The purple liquid sloshes around in the see-through glass._

_“in the guard’s drinks and voila, by the time that have guard duty they’ll be sleeping like maidens.”_

_Thor snatches the bottle out of his brother hands with an angry snarl._

_“First of all, why this ridiculous outfit and second of all no one’s gonna believe I’m a maide, I’m ten and I don’t even look like a girl.”_

_Loki waves away his brother’s arguments easily._

_“I put a minor illusion on you it’s not gonna hold very long but it’s going to make them,” he points at the two Asgardians witting at the table, “believe you’re a maiden and they are gonna drink I promise.”_

_“I don’t want to do this, I am Thor, I’m a prince-“_

_“-and you said you’d do whatever I said if it was beneficial to the plan.” Loki finishes his sentence._

_“Now hurry up because I’m not going to be able to hold your illusion for much longer.”_

XxXxXxXxXx

Clint had hoped his arrow would’ve at least taken out the Other, he had known Thanos would’ve been too beautiful to be true but seriously how strong is that stupid ugly sidekick anyways?

He knows the Other isn’t dead because the moment Thanos had started to power up that stupid Tesseract he had been attacked by him.

It’s years of training and doing highly specialized missions that saves him, he recognizes the sound of a gun, alien or not, being powered up and he quickly rolls to his side, narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Other.

“ _You will not hinder the Master anymore!”_ it screams, spit flies everywhere as his now mutilated mouth tries to correctly pronounce the words it wants it to, the explosion might not have killed him, it obviously had done some major damage. From everywhere under his cloaks drips a weird substance, glittering and soaking the ground underneath his feet.

His movements are still inhumanly fast though, when he realizes the gun isn’t working anymore he suddenly lungs at Clint with all his might and almost slams his head in with the empty gun.

Clint rolls further and jumps up, ignoring the constant ringing in his ears and the obvious pain radiating from his ankle signaling that it’s broken.

When he turns around to kick the Other and misses he suddenly sees that Hela and her army-that-would’ve-been-really-helpful bailed on them and in its stead is a smoking hole in the ground.

“I will kill you and your troublesome friends and-“

That’s the moment when the Other is suddenly round-house kicked from behind and when he falls to the ground and scrambles upward gun at the ready even though it’s empty Clint’s never been more relieved when seeing Natasha standing over him.

XxXxXxXxXx

_“See, told you it’d work.”_

_“We are never speaking of this again you hear me?” Thor threatens as they slip past the snoring guards._

_“What? But I was-“_

_Suddenly Loki thrown against a wall and Thor’s body almost squashes him._

_“Never!”_

_“Fine fine, let go of me Thor.” The ‘you’re hurting me’ is left unspoken for Loki’s pride wouldn’t allow him to say it but still._

_“It wasn’t that bad anyways.”_

_Thor just grumbles and lets go, enthusiasm back._

_“Well let’s go then!”_

_Loki straitens his clothes with a flick of his wrist and scowls._

_“We have five minutes tops.”_

_“I know that!” Thor pouts, quickly running off._

_Loki sighs and follows behind be it a little bit more slowly._

_His attention is quickly attracted to the Casket at the end of the room but when he’s standing over it he cannot suppress the stab of jealousy he suddenly feels. Thor will get this amazing present when he’s ready, probably when’s he’s come of age in a few years and the All-Father has even told him about it already. Odin hadn’t said anything about giving Loki anything when he’s coming of age._

_But at the same moment he feels that stab of jealousy he scolds himself. What is he thinking? Of course Odin will get him something great too, Thor’s probably asked about it a million times already so had probably told him already to stop the constant complaining and pestering. Loki on the other hand hadn’t even mentioned his coming of age so it’s only natural that Odin hasn’t said anything about it yet._

_At the same moment he’s thinking this Thor suddenly yells at him._

_“Idiot!” Loki hisses closing his brother’s mouth._

_“You’ll wake up the whole palace!”_

_Thor pushes his brother’s hand away._

_“Yeah, yeah I know, sorry.” He whispers harshly._

_Loki’s eye roll is promptly ignored._

_“Look at this.” He points at the weapon, I bet that’s it!”_

_Loki scrunches his eyes but he can only make out a vague form._

_“What is it?” he asks._

_“I don’t know.”_

_“Then how do you know that’s it.”_

_Thor just pouts._

_“I just know it is.”_

_“What is it?”_

_When Thor doesn’t answer Loki shrugs._

_“It kinda looks like a hammer.”_

_“What? No way it’s probably much cooler than that!”_

_Loki is about to tell his brother off, because he’s very certain that is the distinct shape of a hammer when he suddenly feels a shadow looming over them and he hears the All-Father’s very, very angry voice._

_“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”_

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki hears the fight behind him but he cannot focus, his hearing is failing him and so is his sight, the edges are blurry and the only reason he knows what’s going on is because he can feel the seidr around him.

The seidr that he is currently missing, somehow, missing that essential part of his being makes him better at feeling the seidr around him.

Every passing second he feels not only that the Tesseract is becoming stronger, soon strong enough to kill the all but he can also feel the seidr in himself dimming. At first he had though he had none but then, if he doesn’t have any he’ll die, so he would be dead by now the fact that he’s still alive must mean there’s still some left.

But even that is slowly disappearing.

Thanos is standing with his back to him and when Loki finally finds the strength to get up and to reach into the small amount of seidr he knows what he has to do.

They say that when you die you can see your life flash by but for some reason when he struggles to get closer to Thanos h doesn’t see his whole life, whether it is because he doesn’t even remember half of it anymore or because he doesn’t really want to he doesn’t know but there’s only one moment of his life that he can see clearly.

It’s after he and Thor had broken into the All-Fathers Weaponry. After Thor had  exclaimed that it couldn’t have been a hammer he’d seen, after the All-Father had caught them. He remember its so vividly, the anger the All-Father had expressed but also all the other emotion he had had in that incident. When he thinks about it, after hearing about how he lost his mind and ways and tried to kill everyone, how he had hated his brother, he thinks that’s the moment when it started.

It must have happened slowly of course but he thinks that moment had been the beginning.

But now, with his life slowly slipping away, it all feels so meaningless.

And then he’s reached Thanos’ form and the Mad Titan turns around and almost laughs when he sees the weak and pitiful form of the child in front of him, pushing him backwards but that smile quickly vanishes when realization sets in and behind him the Titan can hear the Energy being redirected and a portal opens.

When Loki releases all the energy that is left inside of him, practically throwing away his life in the hope that it will be enough he can only think about that one moment in his life that at the time had seemed so important.

He can only think about the nothingness, about the meaninglessness about it all.

And of course before everything turns black he, thinks about Thor.

_Forgive me brother._

**Indeed I am leaving you with this. Remember: lots of reviews equals faster update!**

 

 


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, school is hella busy right now! I have so much inspiration for this story I really want to update sooner but unfortunately I can’t! Remember that other story with Teen!Everyone? I’m trying to find some time to continue writing and eventually publish it (though that might not be for a while) I’m wondering if anyone would be interested in a little sneak peek? Also, I advise you to read every word of this chapter because it has clues to what will happen next! If someone can guess one thing correctly I’ll update sooner than next week, promise!

If there is a hell, Clint’s sure this is it. Somehow he’s always imagined hell to be a place with a lot of fire everywhere and giant chasms all around, maybe some people, ripped to pieces only to be sewn back together to start the process all over again.

There’s only darkness. Not even one little fire, no stench of amputated, rotting limbs or eyeballs rolling around. No eternal pain or damnation just black, pitch black.

Sometimes light flashes, like a lightning bolt suddenly coming down from the air, only there’s no storm or thunder to accompany it. A flashing white light that’s so sudden it blinds him all over again and it’s only on those moments that he actually hears something. Hurried whispers and panicked shouts and sometimes he thinks he hears the buzz of machines but he’s pretty sure it’s all in his head.

Since there’s not much to do, the only thing Clint can think of to do would be to try and remember. This is what he knows: the world was gonna end. He shot a staff instead of the actual enemy and then everything had happened so fast even his eyes hadn’t been able to fully follow it.

Loki, he remembers Loki, he remembers the god-child, how he’d collapsed after Clint had fired his arrow and even as a non-magical being, Barton had felt it, not only had the wind stopped blowing the room had suddenly felt, _empty_ like it was missing a person. Like it was missing a presence, only he’d never realized it was there, until it was gone.

Normally Barton knows how much time has passed when sitting in a dark room doesn’t matter how disoriented he is, time, somehow has always been constant in his life, has always been that one thing he could rely on. You have two hours to complete that mission, report in three. Five minutes before a bomb goes off and rips you apart. Two milliseconds before that bullet pierces your skull and you’re dead. Two seconds tops, needed to shoot a perfect arrow.

But now, and he’s not even sure _when_ now is, he doesn’t know. Maybe that’s also the reason this is hell. Eternal is still time, it’s difficult to grasp but it is possible, in here it sometimes feels like hours have passed and then suddenly he realizes that’s he’s been counting seconds but that the numbers are all jumbled up in his head and he’s not even making any sense anymore.

His eyes burn when another flash of white light comes out of nowhere and only a few moments (or hours) later another one comes down.

And then that darkness is gone and he sees a flash of red, before he loses consciousness once again he hears her speak.

“He’s awake.”

Another voice answers, at first he thinks it must be an Asgardian healer or something like that, doing his magic hocus pocus to patch him up but he recognizes the voice. It’s Banner, Clint’s pretty sure he thinks Clint’s already blacked out.

“I don’t think you should tell him already.”

He doesn’t hear Natasha’s answer but he thinks it’s something in the line of:

_He deserves to, he needs to know what happened after all this time._

XxXxXxXxXx

When someone asks him, he’s working. No one’s asking of course. And he’s actually working so there’s not really a problem at all. Except that he can’t sleep, that even when he’s not sleeping he can see them.

At first it hadn’t fazed him. Nightmares, they’re there all the time, he almost can’t remember a time when he didn’t have them. But then, he started seeing things. Now that sounds like he’s gone batshit crazy or something but Tony Stark is pretty sure he hasn’t.

His mind still works, his genius brain does what it’s supposed to do on most moments. On the moments it’s not he can see her.

Pepper

She stands before him suddenly in his lab, she doesn’t say anything she doesn’t move and when he blinks a couple of times she’s gone.

He’s still afraid. He’s so afraid what might happen if she does start talking. She’s not real, she’s in his head, she’s his hallucination from post-traumatic stress but he’s still afraid. Again if someone would ask him he would firstly deny that anything’s wrong and then he’d say he isn’t scared.

No one’s asking though.

Tony had at least though saving the world from a Mad Titan would’ve given him some kind of peace. Naturally it hadn’t.

He’s put Jarvis on mute, he’s put Jarvis on mute for a long time now and every time he wants to unmute him, to talk to him again he stops himself. And then he feels even more pathetic than he did before because if he can’t even face his self-made artificial intelligence computer how is he ever going to fear an actual person?

His hands start trembling and stabilizer he’s building falls out of his hands and he doesn’t even have the will to pick it back up.

It rolls around on the floor. The chair he’s sitting on is scraped back and when he gets up he almost feels like sitting back down but he doesn’t.

He goes upstairs in a pace that would make a ninety-year-old-man seem like a star athlete.

His fingers linger over the button, when he presses it he can almost feel the house come back to life as Jarvis wakes up.

Tony is glad that the A.I. stays silent, like he knows this is not the right time to talk.

“Show me her.” Tony asks.

A zooming noise is heard as systems that haven’t been online in a long time start to flicker back to life.

On the screen she appears, and this time it’s not an illusion.

Her beautiful hair if tied in a bun, she’s sitting at the desk in Stark Industries running his company like she should. It pains him to admit it but he’s never seen her this relaxed even in a job as stressful as the one she’s taken on.

If he could only ignore the S.H.I.E.L.D. file in the right corner of the screen, just to remind himself, to wake himself up he drags the file in front of him, it obscures Pepper wholly and he can no longer see her.

He rereads the report, even though he probably knows it by heart by now.

Pepper Potts

Current location: Stark Tower  
Current condition: Under surveillance.   
Mission: constant surveillance   
Objective: Insurance of remaining of the Memory Wipe

Pepper Potts, the love of his life.

Doesn’t even remember that she loves him.

XxXxXxXxXx

“Captain, we await your orders.”

Rumlow looks eager to jump off the plane.

Steve shakes his head, his mind had wandered again, in the middle of a mission.

“Go!” He says and then he does as he just ordered and jumps out of the plane.

It’s only a few seconds before Rumlow somehow catches up and screams way to close to his ear.

“YOU FORGOT YOUR PARACHUTE AGAIN!”

Steve presses his arms even more to his side and gains enough speed to leave Rumlow behind once again, especially since Rumlow does have a parachute.

“DON’T NEED ONE!” He yells and he tries not to sound too proud but he can’t help but smile because Rumlow can’t see him anyway.

Once he hits the water he quickly boards the ship, he almost curses his slip of falling in the water, as that must have made quite some noise but no one had awoken.

The mission is almost too easy and within five minutes all the enemies are gathered on the deck and the information they need is safely stored in Rumlow’s suitcase.

Steve Rogers a.k.a. captain America congratulates his men before boarding the plane again. On the way home it sneaks up on him. Sometimes it’s suddenly there, other times it goes slowly and although he tries to stop it, it never works.

The despair, regret and loneliness, the sorrow and anger all catch up on him eventually and every single time he wrestles though it but after every single time he has trouble remembering why she’s still struggling so hard.

After what happened, to Barton. What had to happen to Pepper because she would’ve gone insane if they hadn’t done what they did. What happened to Loki, what happened after all this time.

What happened to Bucky, what happened to Peggy, the Howling Commandos.

When he’s alone at home, in his weird apartment because he doesn’t want to live in Stark Tower like S.H.I.E.L.D. had suggested, he can’t help but think.

He can’t help but wonder why he’s still here. Bucky’s gone, Peggy’s gone, the only things that had happened since he had woken up from a sleep that lasted seventy years had been horrible things. Death and destruction and suffering.

But then he’s jogging at Central Park again or he’s visiting another museum to catch up with what’s he’s missed and he sees the people around him. He sees some kids recognize him and stare at him with mouths wide open he chides himself for ever having such moments of doubt. He’s here for them. He’s here for everyone, for anyone that needs him.

And then he smiles but he knows that for one reason or the other, his smile almost never reaches his own heart.

XxXxXxXxXx

“Tasha.”

Agent Romanoff doesn’t look up from the pad she’s holding, showing her the statistics of her partner’s body. She moves though when Clint tries to swing his legs over the bed.

Her hands press his chest back down insistently and she’s almost tempted to strap him down with those blue straps that hang limply from his bed but decides against it for the time being.

Barton presses his hand against his head and scrunches his eyes shut, groaning.

“What happened?”

 _So much_ she wants to say, instead she says: “The end of the world almost did.”

Clint opens his eyes, only to immediately narrow them in her direction.

“Oh so you tell jokes all of the sudden?”

“Just because you’re injured, doesn’t mean I won’t strangle you.”

A smile tugs at the corners of his lips before his mouth is set in a thin line.

“Tell me what happened.”

Natasha opens her mouth to answer when suddenly Bruce Banner comes in.

“You’re awake.” He states.

“Thank you for that diagnosis doctor.” Clint mumbles sarcastically.

Bruce frowns.

“I should check up on you.” Bruce says.

“That can wait-“

“-no it can’t.”

Natasha’s face doesn’t betray it but she’s surprised Banner actually interrupted someone. She can see Clint is too.

“What?” he asks in disbelief.

“Look I know-“

Banner ignores him blatantly and turns to her instead.

“Do you mind? I work better if I’m alone with him.”

She leaves but not before she hears Clint complain.

“Why are you my doctor anyways? You’re not even a medical doctor.”

She allows herself a small smile when she hears the obvious pout in Clint’s voice.

She walks down S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters until she’s in the communications room.

A very big image of Fury occupies the screens and as usual it doesn’t look happy.

“Agent Romanoff.” He says.

Natasha nods.

“Director.”

Fury looks at her for another moment before he looks down at the paper in front of him.

“I hear Barton is awake.”

“He is.”

It’s silent again, like Fury isn’t sure whether to pretend his agent isn’t talking to a nine feet tall image of his face.

“How is he?”

Natasha doesn’t like that question.

“He’s awake.” She says again and that’s it. Fury frowns but then his face returns to his normal angry expression.

“Did you speak to him?”

Natasha almost snickers.

“You must have had a talk with Doctor Banner.”

Fury sighs and shakes his head. For a second she can see the fatigue on his face, the weight that’s on his shoulders almost crush him.

“He’ll find out eventually it’s better if we tell him now, the situation is unstable as it is, if Clint thinks we’re keeping secrets…” She shrugs.

“Well more secrets than usual we might lose him. Especially now.”

“I do not need a reminder of Coulson or Clint’s affliction to him.” Fury bites.

She doesn’t feel sorry.

“You’re not telling him-“

-“I’m not. Don’t worry, he needs to know what everyone else knows and nothing more.”

Clint does deserve to know.

About Pepper. About Loki.

If she has to do it this way than so be it.

Fury sighs again, rubbing his forehead for a second before resting his hand back on his desk.

“I leave it up to you, agent Romanoff to find the correct timing to tell him.”

“Thank you, sir.”

When Fury’s face disappears from the screen she dials Steve.

“Hello.” The voice of Steve asks uncertainly.

“Hey Popsicle.”

“I never liked that nickname.”

“You like Captain Spanbutt better?”

“Did you call me to remind me of all the horrible nicknames Tony ever created?”

“Partially.” Natasha says, she almost smiles. Aside from Clint Rogers is the one she likes the most in their ‘Avengers’. He’s almost the polar opposite of herself. He fights for righteousness and he himself is more of a saint than actual saints. She’s the one that’s working for S.H.I.E.L.D. and won’t even manage to wipe out half of her sins after working for them for a lifetime.

“I just wanted you to know, Clint’s awake.”

A moment of silence.

“How is he?”

She repeats the same answer she’s given Fury.

“Awake.”

“Should I-“

“-No. Not yet. Not until I’ve told him everything.”

The moment of silence that comes next stretches out for a long time.

“You sure?”

Natasha nods even though Steve can’t see her.

“Everything.”

It’s a lie. Steve doesn’t know. Tony doesn’t know. Bruce doesn’t know. She doesn’t think Clint should.

XxXxXxXxXx

_“How about taking on someone of your own size?”_

_His fist slams into the bully standing there with his mouth still open from surprise. Before he can recover he quickly kicks him in the gut and pushes him away from Steve._

_The bully scrambles away as fast as his fat legs manage to carry him. For a fat kid he’s surprisingly fast._

_“I could’ve taken him.”_

_Bucky huffs._

_“Sure you could, I mean after you played dead for an hour or so.”_

_He sets Steve back down._

_“You were getting heavy anyway.” The brown-haired boy smiles._

_Steve pulls a face._

_“Ha ha, very funny Bucky.”_

_They walk silently, Bucky wants to speak but somehow he doesn’t find the words. He opens his mouth and closes it again._

_“Don’t you dare say it.” Steve warns._

_Bucky rolls his eyes._

_“Steve you’re ten and you still want to fight someone three years older.”_

_“It’s not like I want to fight.” Steve protests._

_Bucky’s eyebrow is raised as his voice drips with sarcasm._

_“For someone who doesn’t want to fight you get into a lot of fights.”_

_Steve shoots him an annoyed look._

_“He was bullying some kid.”_

_And that’s it. Steve would rather have himself being beaten into a pulp than some other boy who he doesn’t even know. But they’re both ten so the conversation quickly changes into more pleasant things._

_They joke about stupid things and tell each other about these great war stories they’ve heard or other things that really don’t matter but they like them anyway._

_And then that memory suddenly changes. Out of nowhere the world turns black and Steve turns around, his hands grip metal and the wind slaps him in the face._

_They’re standing on a train._

_Steve is holding a metal railing, and beneath him is the giant chasm, Bucky is next to him and he tries he desperately tries to be there in time._

_“Hang on!” he hears himself say. Bucky’s grip on the metal bar, Steve can see it loosen._

_In an act of desperation he hold his hand as far as he can._

_“Grab my hand!”_

_But Bucky can’t grab his hand._

_And Bucky falls._

_And Bucky is dead._

_Because of him._

XxXxXxXxXx

The ground shakes as he lands. At first mortals all around him are screaming but then they recognize him and suddenly all he sees are these mobile devices called cellphones pointed at his direction.

Thor doesn’t care.

Thor doesn’t care about anything anymore.

He’s here, on the place he so cherishes yet he feels no joy or relief.

The only thing is the heavy tugging at his heart, the weight of grieving and sorrow drowns all the other emotions.

_Loki, his brother._

He had expected the Man of Iron to be there first.

Instead he sees the red-haired woman walking towards him, next to her is Captain America and behind them he sees an army of agents.

He knows they’re not hostile but for some reason seeing those agents make him angry. All the sacrifices he made, _his brother_ had made and how did the mortals show their gratitude.

Somewhere in his mind he realizes of course that their actions are nothing but logical but still he cannot shake his feeling of anger and resentment.

He lifts himself up until he towers over most of the people before him, Mjolnir heave in his hand. He takes a deep breath. This must happen, he needs them, now more than ever.

At first he narrows his eyes as he sees no one else is coming.

Agent Romanoff shakes her head silently. It shall wait then.

Director Fury comes up from behind them and stalks toward Thor with a steady pace. If Thor cared he would’ve noticed the exhaustion on the face of the mortal leader but he doesn’t really care so he doesn’t really notice.

In the background there’s a lot of commotion but again Thor cannot bring himself to even care a little bit. His thoughts are with his brother. His thoughts are with the things that happened in these last few months. How he had felt like he abandoned his brother even though Loki couldn’t possibly know, when he went on diplomatic and necessary missions. He had wanted to stay in Asgard but his father wouldn’t allow it. A prince has his duties and Thor had yelled at him and screamed but after that he had felt so empty and the months had passed by agonizingly slowly yet far too fast.

When he finally remembers that he’s been standing like this for a few very awkward minutes he takes another deep breath.

“Citizens of Midgard.” He nods to agents Romanoff and Steve Rogers. “Avengers, Asgard requests your presence.” His mouth feels like it’s filled with ash.

“for the Death declaration of Loki Laufeyson.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please bear with me, I love a good cliffhanger.


	22. AUTHOR'S NOTE

AUTHOR’S NOTE: First of all, I’ve decided to go with a trilogy instead of a three-part-story anyways (yes I am sorry for the confusion). The sequel is titled ‘Redefining Past’ and will be up in about the same time you’re reading this. You can see Chapter 21 of this story as the First Chapter (because that is the First chapter) or as the epilogue of this first Part. I changed my mind because of two reasons: Firstly because I think the end of Chapter 20 was a good way to end this story and secondly because while I was writing the rest of the second part I realized where I wanted to go with this and that the second part is, in some way, a story in itself separately from this one as well as a continuation.

**Author's Note:**

> I will update this every week ;) school's busy but sine I have 3 more chaps in line they'll be coming in the next weeks!


End file.
